When François-Xavier Lalanne’s Hippopotame Bar—a copper, nickel silver and brass sculpture in the shape of a hippo—sold for $31.4 million in December 2025, it became the most expensive design object ever auctioned. However, that record was eclipsed shortly after by a set of 15 mirrors created by none other than the sculptor’s wife, Claude Lalanne. The Sotheby’s New York sale on 22 April, from the private collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg, fetched $33.5 million – a new world record for a piece of design. Works by the late couple –collectively referred to Les Lalanne, though they largely practised individually – brought in a total $64.7 million at the sale.

‘The appeal of Les Lalanne has become truly universal,’ Sotheby’s chairman of 20th-century design, Jodi Pollack, tells Wallpaper*. ‘With a strong and established collector base, combined with new buyers entering the market, there is a powerful momentum that continues to drive demand.’

The couple enjoyed successful parallel careers during their lifetimes, and became fashion world darlings, collaborating with several celebrated designers and ateliers on commissions for store interiors and private homes. Their individual works are markedly different, but share common themes rooted in surrealism and references to the natural world. These pieces particularly shone in the 1970s, as interest in organic forms followed the space-age modernism that dominated the previous decade.

Today, as Les Lalanne continue to break their own records in the design category, we delve further into their careers and impact.

Who were Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne?

French sculptor and designer Claude Dupeux was born in Paris in 1924, and formally trained at the École des Arts Décoratifs in the city before continuing with architectural studies at the École des Beaux-Arts, also in Paris. Simultaneously, she honed her artistic vision through drawing classes at the Atelier de la Grande Chaumière, where she also discovered her passion for sculpture. Claude met her future husband, François-Xavier Lalanne, at an exhibition of his work in 1952. Born in Agen, France in 1927, he initially trained as a painter at Paris’s Julian Academy.

François-Xavier rented a studio in the Impasse Ronsin, an artists’ enclave in Montparnasse. His neighbour was Constantin Brancusi, who introduced him to Surrealists including Man Ray and Max Ernst. The artist also worked as a guard at the Louvre, where his study of Egyptian artefacts would go on to influence his animal-inspired sculptural work.

Soon after meeting, Claude and François-Xavier moved in together and became creative partners. The couple’s first joint exhibition, 'Zoophites,' opened in 1964 at Jeanine Restany’s Galerie J in Paris and presented a collection of hybrid sculptural-functional objects. The show won the attention of Alexander Iolas, a Greek art dealer and collector who introduced American audiences to Surrealism. In October 1966, when Iolas exhibited the couple’s works in his Paris gallery, they first used the shared moniker ‘Les Lalanne.’ Claude and François-Xavier married a year later, and both enjoyed a long and fruitful career.

After François-Xavier’s death in 2008, Claude continued to work from the house in Ury, France, just south of Paris, that they had shared for over five decades. When she died in April 2019 at the age of 94, French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, released a statement of condolences, speaking of how the couple kneaded together ‘imagination, humour and poetry’ to create works that ‘re-enchant the familiar and the functional.’

What characterises their work?

Together, the work of Les Lalanne forms a diverse oeuvre of functional sculpture, or sculptural furniture, depending on how you look at it. The duo often worked together, though maintained their distinct styles and rarely collaborated on individual pieces. François-Xavier’s creations were more often inspired by the animal kingdom while Claude favoured the botanical. They were, however, united in their love for historic French craftsmanship, the surreal and the humour they brought to their fine and decorative art.

François-Xavier’s first private commission, in 1965, was a sculptural brass bar for the home of fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé, which featured two tiers that incorporate an ovoid bottle-rack and a horn-shaped shaker. The piece sold for $3.2 million at a Christie’s auction of the couple’s collection in 2009, nine times its initial value.

François-Xavier is perhaps best known for his sheep sculptures, the Moutons de Laine, a flock created in 1968 on the request of art dealer Alexander Iolas as a wedding present to the artist Bill Copley. Originally titled Pour Polypheme, based on the passage in Homer's Odyssey where Ulysses and his comrades escape from the Cyclops Polyphemus by hiding underneath his giant sheep, the 24 shearling-wrapped pieces with painted-aluminium faces and feet can be used as stools. Several were later acquired by Saint Laurent and Bergé. Meanwhile, François-Xavier’s Hippopotame Bar was commissioned by Anne Schlumberger in 1976, while a fish-shaped Grand Carpe bar (1972) and the Rhinocrétaire I cabinet (1964) also feature in his zoomorphic collection.

Claude, on the other hand, would often take natural forms such as leaves or flowers, and electroplate them in copper sulphate, making the copper cling to the organic material to create perfect replicas. The recently-auctioned collection of elaborate mirrors perfectly demonstrates the delicate floral details for which she is renowned. These were also created for Saint Laurent, with whom Claude also collaborated on gilt metal castings from the body of supermodel Verushka that were incorporated into the fashion designer’s 1969 Empreintes collection.

In addition to working with Saint Laurent, Claude was commissioned by Hubert de Givenchy, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano and Reed Krakoff, among others. Her most famous works include Choupatte, a series of cabbage-shaped vessels supported on chicken-like feet; the Croco range of crocodile-informed tables and chairs; and the surreal L’Homme à Tête de Chou (1976) sculpture that inspired the title and cover of an album by Serge Gainsbourg.

Les Lalanne’s legacy continues to resonate in the fashion world, with pieces being installed in Chanel, Dior and Tom Ford flagship stores. Prominent collectors include interior designer Peter Marino, who placed François-Xavier’s sculptures across Chanel’s fine jewellery shops, as well as many other private collectors.

'What I find especially compelling is the way Les Lalanne engages with other works in a collection, subtly shifting the dialogue in a way that always feels fresh and unexpected,' says Pollack, of Sotheby's.

Why is the work of Les Lalanne so valuable?

In recent years, Les Lalanne have been the subject of several major exhibitions, including a retrospective at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Their work appears in major collections including the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York, the Musée National d’Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou and the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. The recent attention on their careers has arrived perfectly at a time when interest in collectible design, and a wider appreciation for exquisite crafts, have skyrocketed. The couple’s connections to the luxury fashion world has further elevated their allure.

‘Over the past two years, we’ve seen new pricing benchmarks achieved at auction for both Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, across both unique and editioned works,’ Pollack explains. ‘Demand remains exceptionally strong and continues to drive the market forward. At the same time, this momentum is bringing some of the artists’ most celebrated works back to market.’

Along with a strong market for design in general, the recent auction records for Les Lalanne prove that collectors are not only interested in the works’ value – they’re also looking for pieces that are beautifully-crafted, highly whimsical, and don’t take themselves too seriously. Pollack, who has a François-Xavier-designed Mouton de Laine in her office, concludes: ‘We all need a little Lalanne in our lives, especially in a world that rarely pauses for breath.’

Just when you thought design auctions couldn’t get any hotter, a just-announced sale taking place in New York this spring promises to raise the stakes even higher.

The global auction house Sotheby’s – fresh off the sale of a $31.4 million hippo-shaped bar designed by François-Xavier Lalanne – has announced that the collection of Jean and Terry de Gunzburg will be hitting the block on 22 April, a landmark trove that's expected to achieve as much as $43 million, if not more.

The group of 123 works reads as a museum checklist of some of the best names in 20th-century design, one that's particularly heavy on French masters including Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Jean-Michel Frank, Jean Royère and others.

‘The de Gunzburg Collection stands as one of the most significant and visionary assemblages of design ever to come to auction, representing the very pinnacle of French design,’ insisted Jodi Pollack, Sotheby’s chairman of 20th-century design in a press release.

The collection was drawn primarily from the de Gunzburgs’ New York apartment, which was decorated by renowned interior designer Jacques Granges in a style described as ‘New York on the outside, Paris on the inside.’

Terry de Gunzburg, a former medical student, built a make-up empire (she’s been described as the ‘Steve Jobs’ of the beauty industry and invented the legendary YSL Beauty product Touche Éclat). Her husband, Jean, meanwhile, is a distinguished molecular and cell biologist and a descendent of the noble Gunzburg family.

Over the years, and across five different houses, the couple has amassed a museum-worthy collection of art and design. 'I’m a compulsive buyer and I can never stop,' Terry told the Financial Times.

One of the auction’s numerous highlights is a group of 15 fantastical gilt-bronze mirrors designed by Claude Lalanne for Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Paris home – an acquisition that was particularly personal to Terry, who worked for 15 years at YSL Beauty.

The Lalanne mirrors alone come with a high estimate of $15 million, but given their rarity and the white-hot market for all-things Les Lalannes, are likely to achieve much more. ‘These works mark the "magnum opus" of Claude Lalanne’s early artistic imagination and established a defining hallmark of her oeuvre,’ Pollack noted.

There are plenty of other design rarities up for grabs, many of which are expected to approximate the $1 million mark. There’s a charming shagreen-clad cabinet designed by André Groult in the 1920s, which could achieve $800,000; a pair of mahogany cabinets designed by Alexandre Noll in 1946 that come with a high estimate of $1 million; and a pair of delightful striped sideboards with ash, walnut, and ebony veneer designed by Jean Royère, also with a high estimate of $1 million. A separate auction will also see works by Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Agnes Martin, Paul Klee and others hit the block.

'Collecting has been one of the great privileges of our lives, a journey guided entirely by instinct, curiosity and the pleasure of living with works that moved us deeply,' the de Gunzburgs said in a joint statement. 'We are proud to share it now through our partnership with Sotheby’s, and hope it will continue to inspire new custodians, including our children, to follow their own paths of looking, learning and collecting.'

According to an interview in the Financial Times, the couple is using the sale as an opportunity to pass their fortune along to their seven children and more than one dozen grandchildren; they also plan to devote the proceeds to charitable causes.

The sale arrives at an unprecedented moment in the world of collectible design. Last December, Sotheby’s design week sales, held at its historic Marcel Breuer-designed headquarters in New York, brought in $60 million, a feat anchored by the sale of the Lalanne hippo bar.

‘As global demand for masterpiece-level design continues to intensify, this collection reflects a rare clarity of vision, conviction, and foresight,’ Pollack said. ‘It stands at the forefront of a new era in collecting, exemplifying how today’s most discerning collectors approach the pursuit of exceptional design.’

The Collection of Jean & Terry de Gunzburg - Design Masters will go on sale at Sotheby's New York on 22 April, 2026

Since starting her practice two decades ago, architect Victoria Yakusha has become Ukraine's most dominant design voice.

Yakusha's work — which spans buildings, interiors and collectible design — is firmly rooted in the traditions, materiality and mythology of her native country. Her charming sculptures created with her firm’s design arm, Faina, especially, have become a fixture at US design fairs and the design awards circuit. To wit: as part of Design Miami’s 2.0 section last December, Yakusha unveiled The Land of Light II, a series of pleasingly-round sculptural animals made from ztista, a sustainable plaster she’s developed.

While Yakusha, who splits her time between the US, Belgium and Ukraine, has brick-and-mortar galleries in Kiev and Antwerp, and sells her work online, Americans looking to experience her work need to see it as part of a dedicated exhibition or a fair. No more: this month Yakusha opened up her first dedicated design gallery in the US in Miami’s Design District.

For the designer, the opening provides the perfect way to further introduce her practice to US audiences. ‘My work is built around physical presence — material density, surface, scale and the way light interacts with form. These are qualities that can’t be fully communicated digitally, no matter how refined the image,’ Yakusha explains to Wallpaper*. ‘I wanted to create a place where objects could be experienced in real time, through the body as much as through the eye.’

The gallery, located in a low-slung building on the periphery of the Miami Design District, is the embodiment of Yakusha’s design values — ‘calm, grounded and quietly expressive,’ she explains.

The space is quite literally, ensconced by her home country: the walls are finished in natural clay that was shipped from Ukraine, a move that lends an organic, earthy sensibility. This earthiness is contrasted with sleek stainless steel cabinetry which displays design objects, including lighting and smaller animal sculptures, and softly diffuses light from the storefront’s generous windows.

At the gallery’s centre is a round ‘island’ containing mosses and plants in a soft circular mound. Amid the dove-coloured clay walls and against the stainless steel shelving, it's at once a nod to Miami's lushness and a surreal portal to another world.

‘I want visitors to feel a sense of lightness and harmony the moment they enter. This is not a space designed for quick consumption. It’s meant to slow people down — to encourage observation, reflection and sensory awareness,’ Yakusha says.

Yakusha wants to create not just an exhibition space for her most recent objects, but a cultural hub, a place where people can attend a lecture or an intimate gathering. In doing so, the designer says, ‘[The gallery] becomes a place where people can return, where relationships can grow, and where the work can be understood in a deeper, more layered way.’

‘On a personal level, this moment feels both grounding and energizing,’ she reflects. ‘It’s a point of arrival, but also a beginning.’

There are many galleries specialized in collectible design in New York. Clustered in neighbourhoods like Chelsea and Tribeca, these established platforms tend to focus on American, European and, to a certain extent, Brazilian design but few have ever exhibited work from South Asia. Cue House of Santal, a just-opened gallery filling in the sizable gap and offering the city's ever-voracious collector base something fresh.

Taking over a sprawling seventh floor office space in Midtown Manhattan, looking out over the Radio City Music Hall marquee, the gallery showcases a diverse array of one-off and limited-edition furnishings in carefully-staged vignettes.

'Uncovering these talents and what contemporary South Asian design has to offer has been an obsession of mine for over six years,' says founder Raksha Sanikam, who left a career in finance to join her family's construction business as an interior designer. It was through a master's degree at the Pratt Institute that she fine-tuned her interest in collectible design, cultivating her own expertise and shrewd curatorial eye.

Within the gallery, a central 'courtyard' evoking traditional Indian gathering places is used to present a tightly curated sampling of works, hinting at what’s on view in the more intimate annexes. A deep burgundy is used throughout on the entrance and display platforms, a move that evokes the colour of santal, the rare sandalwood and the gallery’s namesake.

The inaugural exhibit highlights 13 diverse Indian talents. 'The idea is to showcase modern works that are mostly handmade using different Indian crafts in new ways,' Sanikam explains. 'We don’t want to be antiques dealers and will only exhibit contemporary pieces, many of which reinterpret furniture typologies common in the region.'

Many of the designs on view cleverly incorporate recognized materials and ornamental flourishes but with a nuanced touch. A good example is Nynika Jhaveri, Anikesa Dhing, and Thamshangpha (Merci) Maku’s Fuzzy Bottom design, a 'playful take' on the ubiquitous Naga bench. The trio refined the familiar form and added playful tufted seat mats that perfectly fit into carved crevices.

Upasana Jain’s SS Cross Chair also stands out. The low-slung settee’s polished steel frame and lattice webbing conjures the traditional craft of woven mats popular across India. An equally gleaming piece is Aashka Desai’s organically formed Wall Sculpture Drava, made out of Tencel yarns and carved high density fibreboard finished using the age-old silver foiling, a technique also deeply rooted in India’s artisanal heritage.

Though the first show only features Indian talents, subsequent exhibitions will highlight work by talents hailing from neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.

Someone clearly wanted a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Last night, a hippo-shaped bar cabinet designed by French artist François-Xavier Lalanne fetched an eye-watering $31.4 million as part of an auction at Sotheby's global headquarters in New York.

The sale, more than triple the work's high estimate of $10 million, is the highest-ever price for Lalanne at auction. It also marks a global record for a work of design.

Seven bidders battled it out for the copper-clad pachyderm, titled Hippopotame Bar, pièce unique, in a skirmish that stretched on for nearly half an hour, a testament to the global mania for all things Lalanne. Just five months ago at Sotheby's, a rhino-shaped bar by Lalanne, Grand Rhinocrétaire II, sold for an jaw-dropping $16.4 million.

The hippo, though, is particularly desirable. It was commissioned in 1976 by Anne Schlumberger, an heiress, philanthropist and patron of the arts, and is the only one of its type to have been produced. Clever doors concealed in its loin, head and leg reveal an ice bucket, a revolving bottle rack and space for hors d'oeuvres and glassware.

'This bar represents the pinnacle of his artistic collaboration with one of his most notable patrons,' a Sotheby's press release noted.

Yesterday's sale was one in a series of auctions of Schlumberger's collection which – in addition to more pieces by François-Xavier Lalanne and his wife and creative partner, Claude – included works by Claude Monet and Salvador Dalí.

Still, says Sotheby's chairman and co-head of 20th-century design Jodi Pollack, Schlumberger's 'pioneering support of Les Lalannes stands out: the Schlumberger Collection remains one of the greatest assemblages of their work in this country and a lasting testament to her legacy'.

Alcova has quickly become one of the most exciting and hotly anticipated exhibitions of Milan design week calendar, showcasing both established and up-and-coming talent in architecturally striking venues since 2018. Three years ago, curators Valentina Ciuffi and Joseph Grima brought the contemporary design fair to Miami Art Week, and for its 2025 edition, the show returned to the Miami River Inn — the city’s oldest hotel — to exhibit new work from across the globe.

From 2-7 December, the exhibition unfolded in and around the rooms, patios, terraces and hallways of four Victorian buildings, each identified by its pastel-toned façade. Meanwhile, the property’s central plaza was overhauled by Milan-based designer Patricia Urquiola, who applied a pink checkerboard across the grassy lawn to showcase Cappellini’s Thinking Man Lido chairs, and installed yellow Utrecht armchairs by Cassina along the edge of the swimming pool. Throughout the week, these outdoor spaces hosted a program of talks and conversations with the exhibitors, who represent a new generation of leading voices in design. Here is a selection of our favourite presentations from Alcova Miami 2025.

Adrian Cruz

Following in his grandfather’s footsteps, Mexican designer Adrian Cruz uses resin to mold sherbet-coloured lighting and furniture, pairing the translucent material with richly veined onyx. At Alcova, he debuted a console with three curvaceous legs and a swooping purple top, as part of a collaboration with interior designer Carmen Arechiga, titled ACCA Editions. Cruz also presented a lamp influenced by the proportions of Renaissance villas. A spherical ‘bulb’ with a carved centre contains the light source, mounted on lightly tinted parallel blocks that slot into a solid base.

Christine Kalia

Who knew that aluminium window frames could become sci-fi influenced furniture? Cypriot designer Christine Kalia partnered with Muskita to repurpose the brand’s window profiles, transforming the offcuts into the Mission chair and a bench that would look right at home inside a spacecraft. Bright orange cushions offset the cool industrial metal, and mimic the hue of re-entry heat shields, while seatbelts are provided for the sitter to buckle in and feel secure. Both of the pieces were packed tightly and shipped to Miami in an ultra-efficient metal cuboid.

Dace Suna

The Rayleigh scattering effect that makes the sky appear blue is also employed by Latvian designer Dace Sūna in her series of Sky-Set lights. Comprising layers of curved opalescent glass disks, the lamps recreate the optical phenomenon—appearing pale blue around the edges and sunset orange in the centre. Also on show, Sūna’s Ontara mirrors are formed by laying warmed recycled glass over a topographic mold, allowing the material to slump into a wavy shape reminiscent of a manta ray. The designer then applied silver sheen over the surface using a vacuum coating technique, enhancing the undulations with reflections.

Jensin Okunishi Studio

For her latest series of custom carpets, American designer Jensin Okunishi looked to the mesmerising striations of marbled stone. She hand-drew her own version and then recreated the sketches in hand-knotted patterns, and placed these two-tone designs at the centre of colour-blocked rugs. Made in Nepal using the Tibetan-style technique, the Formations carpets are edged with scalloped and zig-zag shapes, resulting in a bold Memphis-like aesthetic.

Objects of Common Interest

Expanding on shapes found in a series of jewel-like vases for Tacchini, Objects of Common Interest revealed a set of lamps embedded with cast-resin pieces shaped to resemble precious gemstones. The Brooklyn and Athens-based studio presented these richly hued pieces in an all-white space, allowing the colours to pop and the glow from the light sources to highlight the translucency of the material.

Ombia Studio

Los Angeles-based designer Cristina Moreno references her Colombian origins in her furniture and lighting, whether looking to ancient ornaments and ceremonial jewellery to influence her golden Quimbaya sconces and pendant light, or wood-carving techniques to add texture to her Mare dining table. Ombia Studio’s unconventional forms and warm materials feel deeply rooted in place, reminiscent of the past while strikingly contemporary.

Strat Coffman

A nomadic play system that turns safety infrastructure into ‘instruments of contact’ was installed by designer Strat Coffman. Each installation in The Railings series is constructed into the desired set-up using scaffolding-like stainless steel bars and connectors, which are wrapped in crash mats and padded cushions that are strapped into place. The system is intended to produce ‘tools for pleasure, friction and unexpected forms of touch,’ and was first showcased at Body Zone, one of Detroit’s last remaining gay saunas.

Studio Maerz

Artist Selma Alihodžic of Studio Maerz claims to have created the lightest-ever fabric, woven using a traditional technique on a machine that only a single remaining artisan is trained to operate. To preserve this dying art, Alihodžic recorded the sound of the process, and translated the audio in a visual pattern that she then projected onto the ethereal textile within a blacked-out room.

Terumi Saito

New York-based Japanese artist Terumi Saito combines ceramics and fibre art into vessels and wall-hangings that represent cross-cultural craft. She uses backstrap weaving — one of the earliest weaving techniques that’s used in both Asia and South America — to produce textiles that she wraps around rope sculptures and hand-made clay vases. After completing artist residency programs in Japan, Peru, Guatemala and the US, the resulting body of work melds together styles from all of these cultures into a unique aesthetic.

Undress House

A chair adorned with moveable screw-ball rings, another strung together like a medieval longbow, and a stool that evokes a cooled lava flow were among the pieces shown by artist Jaeho Lee of Undress House. The collection is awash with contrasts—metal and wood; heavy and light; shiny and matte interplay dynamically across each object, and a couple of tongue-in-cheek references offer IYKYK inside jokes.

In the world of capital ‘d’ Design, it’s easy – easier than most would like to admit – to experience an itchy feeling of not belonging, whether you’re at a scene-y event, experiencing FOMO on Instagram or realising that the chair you’re coveting has a rent-level price tag.

Even so-called ‘Insiders’ (designers, gallerists, and, yes, Wallpaper* editors) can succumb to the same feelings. That irony was not lost on gallery owner Lin Tyrpien and design advocate Jenny Nguyen.

‘Even if you’ve been working in an industry for years and years, sometimes you still feel like an outsider,’ says Nguyen, who founded the PR company Hello Human in 2020. ‘But when you find your people that share that feeling and connect and are vulnerable with each other, you create your own community. Then you become an insider.’

That idea planted the seed for ‘Outside/In,’ a new show the duo has co-curated at Tyrpien’s downtown Manhattan exhibition space, Lyle Gallery. The dozen designers and makers on display vary in their mediums, subject matter, nationality and career longevity, but are all connected by their sense of working on the periphery of the design scene.

‘Both of our respective businesses are heavily focused on representing the underrepresented,’ Nguyen says. ‘It made a lot of sense to come together and give a platform to designers that might not have ever shown in the US, or might not have the access to present in a gallery.’

The works on display were selected through an open call on Instagram. Some 200 artists, designers and makers responded, among them recently graduated students and international practices. The curators were especially drawn to work with strong narratives. ‘The prompt had to resonate with the designers, but the response had to resonate with us,’ Nguyen explains.

‘It's so nice because you get out of your echo chamber,’ adds Tyrpien. ‘We easily could have come together and hand-picked people we knew.’

The resulting show consists of more than a dozen works of furniture, ceramics, textiles, and light fixtures, all of which address the sense of working on the fringes in a unique way, whether that’s dealing with the body, the mind or the experience of being human.

Tanuvi Hegde’s work, for example, deals with anxiety. A recent graduate from the Savannah College of Art & Design’s furniture design programme, she contributed an elegant cherry wood chair that contains a steel ball bearing in the armrest that can be rolled, like a pinball, from one side of the chair to the other to counter fidgeting.

Other submissions focus on the body, like that of Swati Jain of the New York studio Unown Space, who contributed a gossamer red tapestry embroidered with electronic wiring and an abstract human silhouette.

Soft-Geometry, a more established LA firm founded by Utharaa Zacharias and Palaash Chaudhar, contributed ‘Long Hair’ sconces, which resemble cascading braids, in homage to the intimate family ritual of braiding hair in their Indian household.

Some works focus on culture memory, like Clarissa Guzman of Platform Studio’s geometric clay candelabra, which invokes mesoamerican motifs, brutalism, and her Catholic upbringing.

Salù Iwadi Studio, founded by architect Toluwalase Rufai and brand strategist Sandia Nassila just two years ago between Senegal and Nigeria, has two round side tables in the show. Each has a top carved with swirling grooves and spiny timber protrusions, a reference to the mesmerising Zangbeto masquerade in Benin.

Interestingly the majority of the participants identify as women, a fact that feels more than coincidental considering women make up just 26 per cent of the furniture manufacturing workforce and an even smaller percentage of company leadership positions.

Still, being an outsider ‘is a very complicated idea’, says Nguyen. Even Tyrpien, who founded Lyle Gallery with her wife just a year ago, feels it deeply. ‘In a weird way, I feel like I shouldn’t even be doing this,’ she says.

By poking that nerve, though, the pair hope they create their own ever-expanding network of insiders – and it’s a club we’d gladly be a part of.

'Outside/In' is on view from 13 May to 1 June 2025 at Lyle Gallery

Read more highlights of NYCxDesign 2025

Anchoring New York’s fall cultural calendar is Salon Art + Design, the city’s premiere collectibles fair. Returning to the storied Park Avenue Armory from  9 to 13 November 2023, this year’s edition – its 12th – places emphasis on contemporary and vintage works in equal measure.

Joining long-time exhibitors like Cristina Grajales, David Gill Gallery, and Todd Merrill Studio are newcomers (especially from abroad) such as Achille Salvagni Atelier, Bo Design Group, and Rosior. A number of independent producers and brands have also programmed special displays. They include Charles Zana Mobilier, Humans Since 1982, and Mathieu Lehanneur, among a slew of leading luxury platforms.

In keeping with the new trend of bringing in more than just furnishings, fine art, and jewellery, the fair is now also playing host to galleries and online marketplaces that purvey different object typologies, everything from meticulously crafted game sets to bespoke kitchenware. It’s a sign of the collectible art and design industry’s continued growth and stratification, especially when it comes to facilitating a wider range of price points.  

Here, we identify our highlights of the best showcased designs from an array of gallery, brand, and independent exhibitors making a splash at the fair. 

Salon Art + Design 2023: the Wallpaper* highlights

Labaye Sumi's Colonne Noailles, Charles Burnand Gallery, London

Presented as part of London’s Charles Burnand Gallery’s ‘SUPER, NATURAL’ exhibit, Paris-based design duo Labaye Sumi will debut their Colonne Noailles floor lamp to the US market. The architecturally-inspired, semi-translucent, sculptural luminaire is an homage to the column in the Salon Rose at the Mallet Stevens-designed Villa Noailles on the Côte d’Azur. The monumental composition comprises a tall stained acrylic orange-hued cylinder and a moveable ring cast in violet. Mounted together and illuminated with refracted light, the two emit a pink tone. 

Crina Arghirescu Rogard and Hartis's Neo-Narcissist mirror, Garde, Los Angeles and New York  

Developed by New York-based Romanian architect Crina Arghirescu Rogard and Paris-based emerging talent Hugo Besnier, under his furniture label Hartis, the Neo-Narcissist mirror incorporates layers of leather and suede feathers mounted to a mirror-glass base. On view with Los Angeles and New York-based up-and-coming gallery GARDE, the expressive work evokes the seminal ancient Greek myth of Narcissus. The meticulously-crafted ‘wing’ works to playfully elevate one’s reflection and perception of themselves.

Brian DeMuro and Puru Das’ Tempest side table, DeMuro Das, New Delhi and New York

New Delhi and New York-based furniture producer DeMuro Das relies on its ability to translate age-old Indian craft traditions in contemporary design that often nod back to mid century modernism. The highly-sought after boutique producer chose this year’s Salon Art + Design to debut the new Tempest Side Table collection: a masterfully fabricated fusing of inlaid stone marquetry and metal casting; achieved on an impressive scale.

Nathalie Ziegler’s Pink Glass Chandelier, Twenty First Gallery, New York Lighting

Displayed with New York’s preeminent purveyor of contemporary French design Twenty First Gallery, Nathalie Ziegler’s Pink Glass Chandelier perfectly demonstrates her career-defying exploration of collaged, almost pixelated blown glass. Her suspended sculptures illuminate as chandeliers. She often collaborates with expert artisans at heritage glassworks Verrerie de Saint-Just, pushing their age-old techniques and making them relevant in new ways.

Dan Yeffet, Bouchon, WonderGlass, London

Glass is an ancient material and craft that continues to fascinate designers and collectors. As part of Salon Art+Design special brand collaboration this year, London-based producer WonderGlass is highlighting some of its most iconic collections developed using tried and true Venetian techniques. Paris-based talent Dan Yeffet’s Bouchon side tables take pride of place. Cast in silvery blue, these minimalist coil-like furnishings evoke the materiality and viscerality of cork.

Sten Studio’s Totem, Tuleste Factory, New York sculpture

Mexico City-based Sten Studio is showcasing its brand new Totem work with the effant terrible of New York design Tuleste Factory. The decorative sculpture serves a sampler of different sumptuous materials hewn in graphically distinct yet connected components. Though restrained and referential to a variety of architectural styles, the work is ultimately an homage to the natural world.

Matthew Fisher’s Elegy Table, M.Fisher, New York

New York-based talent Matthew Fisher has made a name for himself by distilling the formal and textural qualities of the ancient world in contemporary accessories and furniture designs. The new Elegy collection takes that exploration a step further. As evident in the table piece, Fisher explored the almost naturalistic transformation of stone, one that isn’t always rectilinear or symmetrical but much more raw, organic, and even molten in nature.

Kelvin LaVerne's Chinois Cabinet, Lobel Modern, New York

Salon Art + Design does a good job of blending contemporary and vintage works. Celebrated purveyors of hard-to-find antiques like New York’s Lobel Modern often choose this fair to unveil their rarest finds. Case in point: Kelvin LaVerne's Chinois Cabinet. During the early 20th-century the master craftsman and his son were famous for implementing age-old techniques such as patinated bronze and pewter in incredibly intricate relief patterns and allegorical depictions. The particularly unique 4-door console is testament to both.

Chapter Studio's Gol Console, Galerie Philia, Geneva, New York, Mexico City and Singapore

Global platform Galerie Philia took the collectible world by storm a few years back with its uniquely contextual exhibition programme – staging thematic, commissioned-based, shows everywhere from luxury New York penthouses to disused Milanese chapels. Entering the fair scene this fall is the next step in its meroic rise. Galerie Philia’s Reflect exhibition at this year’s Salon Art + Design highlights key works from some of its most tried and true talents. Intersecting geometric and organic components hewn in materials like rare marble and granite, Chapter Studio's Gol Console is as much an evocation of heritage as it is the cosmos.

Lost Profile Studio's Marbled Continuum (Pearl), Salon Design, New York

Salon Design, New York’s latest gallery and a platform that champions artisanal experimental in unparalleled ways, is making its debut at the fair. The gallery’s curated display will include a diverse selection of functional and more artistically-inclined works by some of its most illustrious talents. Included is Australian practice Lost Profile Studio’s incredibly graphical, yet visceral Marbled Continuum wall pieces. The layered sculpture’s angular cuts juxtapose the graining of the incorporated stone and in captivating fashion.

Piet Stockmans’s Wilde Strippen, Spazio Nobile, Brussels

Brussels-based Spazio Nobile prides itself on showcasing artists and designers that engage in contemporary interpretations of what was historically coined as the applied arts; the intersection of art, design, and craft. In true Belgian ‘experimental’ fashion, celebrated ceramicist Piet Stockmans has made a name for himself pushing the limits of the medium. His Wilde Stippen wall-mounted installation utilizes expressively-form stripes of porcelain to evoke the movement of grass in the wind.

Alexandra Llewellyn's Handmade bespoke games, Abask, London

London-based Abask purveys a wide array of uniquely crafted accessories. It serves as a platform for hundreds of independent makers operating around the world. Making its debut at Salon Art + Design with a unique display, the online salespoint is helping to push the boundaries of what traditional fairs feature. Showcased as part of the display, London-based Alexandra Llewellyn’s bespoke-crafted board games incorporated unlikely yet captivating pairings of sumptuous material.

Barbara Nanning, Verre églomisé VII, J. Lohmann Gallery, New York

Dutch artist Barbara Nanning works in both ceramics and glass, and even sometimes both simultaneously. Her ability to translate the organic and inorganic elements of nature in refined forms is unparalleled. On view with Salon Art + Design stalwart exhibitor J. Lohmann Gallery, The Verre églomisé VII vessel stems from a process that incorporates everything from hand blowing and forming to sandblasting techniques. 

Salon Art + Design is on view until 13 November 2023

Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue, between 66/67 streets
New York, NY

thesalonny.com

Æquō is a collectible design platform, with artisanal collaborations at its core, founded by Indian creative and entrepreneur Tarini Jindal Handa. ‘I come from a family of art patrons,’ she says. ‘My grandmother founded the Kanoria Centre for Arts, an artist residency in Ahmedabad, and my mum founded the magazine Art India. Growing up in Mumbai, we were always surrounded by artists and interesting people from the art world. I actually studied fashion in London, but like a lot of people, my taste evolved. My education in design and architecture is not formal but has come from the creative people I surrounded myself with. My grandmother taught me to do that.’ 

This special context draws Jindal Handa to focus on cultural preservation and innovation within the design and artisan spheres. Inviting designers from all over the world to travel and work in India, Jindal not only shows a deep love for her country, but also helps creatives to envision projects with ancient and traditional techniques - from embroidery, handloom textiles, carpentry, papier-mâché and silverware. ‘In an ongoing commitment to the progress of India’s social and cultural legacies, I see Æquō as an experimental project that transcends borders and equalises its participants,’ she adds.

Æquō: celebrating Indian craft

Based in the district of Colaba (Mumbai’s historical centre), the gallery proposes an equal dialogue between makers, designers and materials in the creation of refined furniture and interior objects. ‘Our mission is to reshape the relationship between them, to reveal their value and potential. We thoughtfully develop furniture and interior objects that emphasise this intersection. By inviting global minds to work here locally, we adopt and create new lenses and unique languages to revisit Indian heritage,’ comments Jindal Handa. This way, international contemporary designers can encounter India’s diverse and profound techniques through the gallery’s extensive network of artisans.

‘Æquō is creating the market for collectible design in my country, but we are also creating an entirely new market globally for fine Indian artisan techniques. Ultimately, I want Indian craftsmanship to receive the respect it deserves internationally. We’re going to make blue-chip names of previously unknown master craftsmen. I want people to know about Jeeveram the carpenter from Alibag, about the amazing stonework of Frozen Music in Jaipur or about the bidri [a silver inlay technique] of Mohammad Abdul Rauf,’ explains Jindal Handa.

Plunging into the gallery’s adventure comes spontaneously: ‘I am personally excited about the aesthetics of what cultural fusion looks like. The idea for Æquō emerged as I was developing pieces for my own home with Florence Louisy, a French designer who graduated from the Netherlands-based Design Academy Eindhoven, then collaborated with the Campana Brothers, and is now the creative director of Æquō, sharing her life between Paris and Mumbai.’

Louisy’s work was the focus for ‘Raw’, the first exhibition at Æquō. Jindal Handa explains that it ‘owes its title to a term rooted in the Latin word crudus, which loosely translates to “uncooked”. In a design context, however, “Raw” nods toward how the materials in question remain unprocessed, untouched or left in their roughest form.’

Louisy created eight collections for the gallery’s opening; all pieces seem permeated with special stories to tell, besides maintaining the ‘beauty and depth of materials almost closest to their natural state’, Jindal Handa adds. The gallery space (designed by French architect Ivan Oddos) is sleek and inviting, a kind of white canvas where the creatives invited could express themselves freely. ‘We’re the first collectible design gallery in India,’ claims Jindal Handa, ‘and the ambition for Æquō is to be world-class in everything we do. I want the gallery to be nomadic and nimble, showing in unusual destinations around the world as well as design fairs. We’re not defined by the precedent of any system.’

Makers, designers and materials plus Jindal Handa’s great network comprise the powerful engine behind the gallery. Æquō is helping to create the market for collectible design in India, but also creating an entirely new market globally for fine Indian artisan techniques.

For the gallery’s first anniversary, Jindal Handa is showing a series of screens made using the bidri silver inlay technique, which originates in Bidar. ‘The scale is exceptional – usually this is a craft you only see in small objects,’ she observes. ‘They’ve been made by the master craftsman Mohammad Abdul Rauf and designed by Florence Louisy, with the silver lines in the form of illustrations by [artist and designer] Boris Brucher. They’re masterpieces of contemporary design and collaboration – really exemplary of the pieces we want to create and commission in the future.’

Jundal Handa has a pretty solid idea of herself; when asked to describe her approach to what she does, she replies: ‘I’m curious. If someone drops a name that I don’t know and sounds interesting, I’ll find out more. I’m fast. I might work in a creative industry but I’m from a business family. We make things happen. And I like to evolve; the more I see, the more honed my taste becomes. And I’m careful to surround myself with objects that bring me pleasure. Architecture and interiors bring me particular joy. But there is more to life than perfect aesthetics. I have a family, I enjoy seeing street life in Bombay. I’m grounded.’

Æquō, Devidas Mansion, Unit N° 11, 1st Floor, B K Boman Behram Marg, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001, India. Opening Hours: 11am-7pm Monday / 11am-4pm Tuesday

The gallery's second collection will be ‘Cédric Courtin: Living Archive’, a study of leather craftsmanship in collaboration with the Pondicherry-based designer.

aequo.in

Wonmin Park made his name with ethereal furniture pieces made from geometric slabs of resin, so his 2021 exhibition ‘Stone and Steel’, which explored more organic shapes, marked a significant shift in both material palette and form. The South Korean-born, Paris-based designer now comes full circle with his latest work, ‘Plain Cuts Remediated Low Table SS1901’, which reinterprets his volcanic rock and hand-cut steel designs in coloured resin and frosted glass and is on view at Paris’ Carpenters Workshop Gallery (20 October 2022 – 7 January 2023).

Whereas Park’s ‘Stone and Steel’ tables featured bases of volcanic rock from Japan, with surfaces alternating between dark grey and a rusted ochre, the new table has a coloured resin base, created by his longtime manufacturing partners in Rotterdam. Its rocky form was not cast from a mould, but rather painstakingly sculpted by hand. The choice of glass instead of steel for the tabletop – shaped like a horizontal cross section of the base – reinforces the impression of lightness. 

At the heart of Park’s transfiguration are two principles: a continued emphasis on natural beauty (thus the avoidance of straight lines), and the interplay between positive and negative space. ‘The existence of nature has reached a new stage of abstraction amid technological development and co-evolution of nature, breaking the quantification of humans versus nature. I want to find a way to trace and explore that existence,’ he says. He also hopes that peering into the resin ‘rock’ will give the viewer a new appreciation for geological time. 

The new design is the centrepiece of Park’s exhibition ‘On Earth’, which opens at Carpenters Workshop Gallery on Thursday, 20 October to coincide with the inaugural edition of Paris+. The show additionally includes Park’s work volcanic rock and steel pieces, as well as drawings and paintings that reveal a practice dedicated to the intersection of the natural and the man-made.

‘Wonmin Park: On Earth’, 20 October 2022-7 January 2023

carpentersworkshopgallery.com
wonminpark.com

ADDRESS
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
4 Rue de la Verrerie
Paris 4e

A version of this article headlines the November 2022 Art Special Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

PAD returns to London’s Berkeley Square for its 14th edition, presenting 62 galleries from 13 countries, back for the first time after a two-year hiatus from the location. 

The fair’s unique offering of contemporary and historical design, art, jewellery and ceramics is once again populated by PAD regulars from Galerie Kreo to Carpenters Workshop Gallery, as well as several newcomers. 

'It is a joy to be back in London: this new edition of PAD captures all the elements that constitute the fair’s DNA: a curated gathering of the world’s most visionary gallerists and creators, driven by a common goal to champion exceptional work, new talent, innovation and craftsmanship; a desire to inspire the most spectacular interiors by sparking a conversation between past and present and most of all, a commitment to break down barriers between the disciplines of art, design and jewellery in order to foster creativity,' comments the fair's CEO, Patrick Perrin.

PAD Prize 2022

This year’s PAD prize was awarded to France’s Jacques Lacoste and WA Design (a gallery specialising in Japanese design making its PAD debut), who won best stand, while the best historical design prize went to Patrick Fourtin’s presentation of a pair of 1930s ‘Elza’ armchairs by Joze Pleènik. The fair's Contemporary Art prize was awarded to Khrysos by Signe Emdal’s for Galerie Maria Wettergren, a colourful wall piece made of Icelandic up-spun wool and cotton warp.

Finally, the contemporary design prize was awarded to London’s Gallery Fumi, for the ‘Casamona’ table by Italian artist Francesco Perini. An exceptional craftsmanship effort featuring oak inlaid with black marble, the round table's top is created with the artisanal technique to mimic and celebrate the wood's natural veins. 

Galleries debuting at PAD London

Among the fair’s newcomers is Charles Zana, for whom PAD London marks the first show of his own work outside France, and Jallu, a Parisian gallery presenting a range of craft that includes master straw marquetry and gypsum, and whose stand features a backdrop by artist Roberto Ruspoli.

French metalwork experts Pouenat also make their PAD London debut, with a stand that includes Yann Le Coadic's ‘Bar Barrha’, an aluminium piece that essentially combines sculpture and functionality.

New launches at Pad London 2022

Across the fair were several product debuts and launches by international collectible design creators. Achille Salvagni presented his collaboration with textile designer Toyine Sellers, originally shown during London Design Festival 2022 and here presented in an immersive setting that includes colourful versions of his ‘Dumas’ bronze chandeliers. Elsewhere at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, Paul Cocksedge's ‘Light and Shade’ chandelier floats effortlessly in the air, accompanying the ‘Slump’ tables by the designer.

Paris' Galerie Kreo presents new works by Doshi Levien alongside pieces from the past year. A sneak preview of a larger collection to make its debut in 2023, the Kinari coffee table and console are inspired by the Indian roots of Nipa Doshi, their names and design referencing the decorative borders of a handwoven Indian Sari.

Sarah Myerscough's craft-focused presentation includes the work of Japanese straw artist Arko, who specialises in working with rice straws to create contemporary compositions.

INFORMATION

padesignart.com

As the world, with its industries and workers, with its inhabitants and desires, is undergoing a continuous and perpetual change, we are experiencing a new movement called neo-nomadism. This concept reveals the physical and physiological movements and journeys we embark on every day. Some do it for work, love, or pleasure, but moving is a constant part of our lives, of our thinking and creative process. 

Lake Como Design Festival 2022 (17 – 25 September), the event’s fourth edition, focuses on the concept of neo-nomadism, exploring the movement of people between digital and real life through the lenses of the economic and climate crises, and examining how these migratory processes influence the creative industry. 

‘The theme seemed particularly interesting this year, also in light of all the changes that are taking place around us: nomadism has always identified human history and thanks to the movement of people, stratifications have been created that allow us to have such a deep and kaleidoscopic culture,’ comments Lorenzo Butti, Lake Como Design Festival creator and artistic director. ‘We are now experimenting with new forms of nomadism that live alongside the more "traditional" ones, increasingly linked to economic disparities between the various parts of the world and to climate change. The aim was to do a survey in art, design and creativity in general to understand how this new nomadism affects artistic expressions.’

Lake Como Design Festival 2022: the highlights

Taking place in the historic city centre of Como, this year’s edition presents a rich programme of exhibitions, talks, installations, and events. These include the collective exhibition ‘Erranti’, showcasing 20 international artists, curated by professor and author Francesca Alfano Miglietti; ‘In Search of Lost Time’, a collective project realised together with Movimento Club; an installation at Casa Bianca, in collaboration with Galerie Philia; and a series of ‘refreshment design talks’ that will dig deeper into neo-nomadism – a programme giving its audience food for thought. 

‘[Design is] a happy and rebellious journey,’ says Alfano Miglietti. ‘And a journey often shows us unpredictable and unexpected corners and sides. Design for me has always been an almost personal relationship with individual authors, a way of creating other weaves and other rhizomes. [Philosopher] Gilles Deleuze wrote: "In a rhizome you enter from any part, each point connects with any other, it is composed of moving directions, without outside and without end, only an inside from which it grows and overflows, without ever depending on or deriving from a unit; without subject or object."’

Journalist Prashanth Cattaneo, curator of Como Design Festival’s talk section, has put together a series of conversations exploring neo-nomadism from different perspectives. However, one underlying question that characterises this programme is ‘whether it is possible to engage in a discussion on neo-nomadism starting out from those who remain; those who choose not to move from their place.’ The idea of travelling, staying, and the creative process as a journey to embark on are just a few of the themes that will be tackled in the programme – which includes Studio Calvi Brambilla, Ivan Bargna, Studio Wok, Tommaso Melilli among others. This extensive series of panel discussions will take place at the Portico del Broletto, Palazzo Broletto, while the festival expands to other nearby venues. 

‘“Erranti” is the theme that runs through the exhibition, as wandering is the history of human beings, a history of movements, diversity and exchanges,’ comments Alfano Miglietti. ‘We ourselves are all crossroads, both biologically and culturally.’ It will be interesting to understand how this message is passed to the audience in Como: speaking of which, the curator adds: ‘I expect the works to become mechanisms of joy and authenticity, of poetry and reflection, but in truth, I don't know what will come to the public; the public is made up of different individuals. I hope the exhibition can stimulate the uniqueness that exists in anyone.’  This year’s Lake Como Design Festival will definitely make us wander and wonder.

NFORMATION

Lake Como Design Festival runs from 17 to 25 September 2022
lakecomodesignfestival.com

Collecting is a curious process: you search for beloved and appealing objects, you find them, you acquire them, and then eventually, you find a space to store and display them. Slowly, you start a collection made of enchanting memorabilia and stimulating conversations. In his book, Ways of Curating, Hans Ulrich Obrist says that to create a collection ‘is also, inevitably, a way of thinking about the world – the connections and principles that produce a collection contain assumptions, juxtapositions, findings, experimental possibilities and associations. Collection-making, you could say, is a method of producing knowledge.’

This is the spirit guiding Vaspaar, an online destination founded by two designers and passionate collectors, India-born Kaisha Davierwalla and Italian Andrea Grecucci. Together in life and in business for several years, the couple surf the world of design with lightness and precise professionalism, and a new approach to the world of collecting. ‘We actually met more than 12 years ago during university, in Milan,’ says Davierwalla. ‘I was in a bar close by and remember not feeling too well. Like a real gentleman, Andrea came to my rescue; we had never been formally introduced before. We got talking and we haven’t stopped since.’

For the duo, collecting is an art that requires great care and rigorous research. ‘Vaspaar’ translates from ancient Persian into ‘the provider of all things’, and the platform takes a nurturing approach to encouraging a new way of collecting, inspired by the past and with an eye to the future. ‘We found a way to merge the variety of expertise we had accumulated and decided to put our assets together and embark on this Vaspaar journey; it has always been a joint effort,’ says Davierwalla.

While its founders are deeply appreciative of midcentury and contemporary Italian design and masters such as Gaetano Pesce, Ugo La Pietra, Gio Ponti, Franco Albini, Alessandro Mendini and Superstudio, Vaspaar also represents and embodies a contemporary approach to collecting and design-making. Born in 2016 as a digital platform, at a time when galleries in the metaverse and virtual space were not a thing yet, it made the experience of collecting design accessible and fascinating to a younger audience of Millennials and Gen Z-ers.

Vaspaar intends to educate and lead new generations of collectors in purchasing valuable and thought-provoking pieces. ‘As a child, I was always enamoured by the antiques my father would bring home and show us, and then we had wonderful discussions,’ says Davierwalla. ‘Also, we Parsi Zoroastrians in India have always had this reputation of being very careful and respectful with our belongings and we are also quite the antique collectors. I think I had secretly wished to take after my ancestors,’ she adds.

United by the passion for historic design and collectibles, Davierwalla and Grecucci wanted, through Vaspaar, to offer all kinds of services, from tailored curatorial advice to research and authentication. They also recently decided to create a collection of limited-edition contemporary objects.

Designed by Grecucci, the pieces focus on increasingly forgotten artisanal skills. Joining forces with the Italian group Materie Prime, he conceived a foamy and porous aluminium coffee table, three carved alabaster vases from Tuscany, and three cold-to-the-touch stainless steel vases. The use of different materials is important: ‘What I love most is to delve and question processes and approaches. Alabaster, for instance, which is strong and frail at the same time, has been used in the past by maestros such as Angelo Mangiarotti and Ugo La Pietra,’ comments Grecucci.

Accessible and informal, Vaspaar’s design collections open possibilities and conversations, letting the platform’s visitors discover the duo’s world. They have just one suggestion to young wanna-be collectors: ‘Do research!’

INFORMATION
vaspaaritaly.com

Studiopepe’s new collectible furniture and objects collection demonstrates that contemporary design and the history of ancient civilisations can go hand in hand. Presented by Galerie Philia at Fuorisalone 2022, ‘Temenos’ is named after the circular sacred area found in ancient Greek temples and is inspired by the items collected by the Luigi Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome.

‘The collection explores the notion of sacredness in its anthropological and historical complexity, and the symbols given to objects and furniture pieces throughout history,’ explain Studiopepe founders Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto.

Although this is their first foray into collectible design, the Milan-based pair have often employed the codes of the genre in their work, especially in what they call ‘Manifesto projects’, experimental and research-based designs that over the years have set the creative tone of the studio. Of these, the 2016 ‘Ossimori’ collection featured sculptural objects (lamps, mirrors) exploring future archaeology, and its research and aesthetic planted the seed for ‘Temenos’. 

To develop ‘Temenos’, the designers worked closely with Galerie Philia co-founder Ygaël Attali, a long-time admirer of their work: ‘I remember a feeling of serenity and calmness when I first walked through a residential project of theirs in Milan a few years ago,’ he recalls. ‘I was particularly fascinated by their passion for history and archaeology blended with contemporary art and design. We share similar passions, so it made sense to honour their vision and our common interests with a new collection.’

Leading up to the project, Attali, Lelli Mami and Di Pinto shared conversations about the history of design and objects, their typologies, and their changing meanings across space and time. ‘The theme that was recurrent in our discussions was the concept of sacrality and its limits,’ says Attali. The trio pondered what makes an object sacred, and how spatial design can add a sense of spiritual importance to an object. 

The ‘Temenos’ collection includes objects whose aesthetic references ancient artefacts and architecture, imbued with modern functionality. In the hands of the studio, thrones become armchairs, altars morph into more modern tables. The breadth of their research is also evident in a series of smaller objects that include the ‘Menhir’ candleholder and ‘Canopic’ vases, respectively referencing Bronze Age monoliths and Egyptian artefacts. ‘As we study and learn more about these cultures, we discover connections between beliefs, collective imagination, archetypes – they are like threads connecting humanity,’ says Lelli Mami. ‘This is what design is based on: objects that everyone can understand.’ The primitive forms of the objects stand in contrast with their exquisite craftsmanship and sophisticated material palette: translucent onyx is paired with charred wood, terracotta, mirrored metal and white plaster. Lelli Mami describes the overall aesthetic as ‘sculptural primitive with a decorative refinement’.

‘Temenos’ is the culmination of years of travels and research. Some of the places that most influenced the duo’s work include Stonehenge, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, and the Bronze Age holy wells of Sardinia. These locations, says Di Pinto, ‘might not immediately feel connected to one another, but then suddenly they join up like the pearls of a necklace.’ They also note that the artefacts found on these sites are incredibly modern in their aesthetic, their only decoration being linked to their sacred function. 

The collection will be presented in Milan through an immersive installation based on a circular temple, with interactive elements including a film produced by the studio, which will be projected on a bed of salt (a symbol of purification in ancient rituals). 

‘Studiopepe’s organic sculptural designs, entirely made by hand, highlight the beauty of imperfection in a finished work,’ concludes Attali. ‘They have produced a powerful ensemble of pieces that stand out through thematic and aesthetic coherence.’ 

INFORMATION

‘Temenos’ is on view from 6 – 12 June

studiopepe.info
galerie-philia.com

ADDRESS

Baranzate Ateliers
Via Milano 251
20021 Baranzate
Italy

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Athens’ The Breeder gallery presents a series of steel furniture works by Philippe Malouin. Titled ‘Steel Works’, the exhibition marks the Canadian, London-based designer’s solo debut in Athens, and merges an industrial design language with a bright palette of saturated hues. The collection was previewed at the gallery's booths at Frieze London 2021 and Fiac, before being shown in its entirety in Athens.

Featuring sculptural steel furniture and lighting design, the collection merges Malouin’s focus on craft and industrial design. The pieces’ forms are achieved through compositions of basic components, objects found by the designer in scrapyards in Greece and the UK. 

Steel furniture by Philippe Malouin

Manufactured between Brighton and Athens, the process is inspired by the Dadaist découpé tradition, which involves cutting up and rearranging parts (usually text). ‘Sourcing steel objects instinctively and rearranging them ad hoc, Malouin’s intention is to create new meaning and value,’ reads a text introducing the works. The results are multifunctional ‘hybrid objects’ that create an interplay between two- and three-dimensional forms and challenge our perception. 

The collection includes a chair made from a bench bracket from an Athens park and a 20kg bodybuilding plate, a lamp made with an I-beam, and a mobile workstation based on a lawn bowling roller and seat. These found objects are combined with standard construction elements such as pipes, plates, brackets, and rebars. The collection’s vivid colours represent the manufacturing location, with red and green for the UK, and blue and light blue for Greece.

An ongoing fascination of Malouin’s is finding everyday materials and repurposing them as the base of his desirable designs – case in point his ‘Press’ mirror for Umbra Shift, an intuitive design object made by simply pressing and polishing a steel tube, or the more intricate design of the series of ‘Turntables’ he created for the Museum of Santa Barbara, whose design is based on a standard circular groove, which had intrigued the studio’s team. 

‘They are ultimately artistic manifestations where their functionality is not always delineated,’ states The Breeder gallery introduction to Malouin’s new works. ‘By probing its boundaries to and beyond the limits, Malouin creates here a rather surprising language of form.’

INFORMATION

‘Steel Works’ by Philippe Malouin is on view at The Breeder gallery, 4 November – 31 December 2021

philippemalouin.com

thebreedersystem.com

ADDRESS

Iasonos 45
Athens 104 36
Greece

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Karl Lagerfeld’s Estate auction, held over two weeks in December 2021 by Sotheby’s, will take place in Monaco and Paris, and online, where bidding opens 26 November, 10am CET. Among the treasures for sale are the contents of various spaces belonging to the fashion designer, photographer and collector, who passed away in February 2019: his 19th-floor apartment in Monaco’s Millefiori tower; his 19th-century house in Louveciennes near Versailles, where the poet Leconte de Lisle was once a frequent guest; his apartment at 17 quai Voltaire in Paris; his office at 15 rue des Saint-Pères; and the never-before photographed apartment opposite, at 8 rue des Saint-Pères.

Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris home

The designer purchased 8 rue de Saint-Pères in 2008 and renovated it himself. Revealed for the first time here, the result is both modern and classic, with a formality to the apartment interior design and something wonderfully old-school about the back of the home, where mirrored double doors lead to hidden kitchens, bathrooms, storerooms and service entrances. Almost every wall is covered in shelving piled very neatly with books. The wall-mounted white powder-coated steel bookcase design, a system created by Lagerfeld, can also be found along the walls of his quai Voltaire apartment (photographed by Benjamin Bouchet in 2017 for Wallpaper* magazine’s ‘Subscribers Since... 1996’ portfolio).

Lagerfeld used both apartments in his day-to-day life; the extra space came in very handy for a collector of his stature. There are more pieces here by the likes of Konstantin Grcic and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec than I have ever seen at an exhibition at Galerie Kreo, one of Lagerfeld’s favourite Parisian haunts. The designer had a 25-year relationship with the gallery’s founders, Clémence and Didier Krzentowski, and amassed a collection of around 100 pieces.

In the entrance lobby sits Grcic’s 2018 ‘Volumes’ collection in Bleu de Savoie marble; Lagerfeld bought each of the six pieces from the show in duplicate, choosing to pair them up. Lining the walls of the staircase are eight of the Bouroullecs’ 2010 ‘Roches’ shelves, made of extra matte lacquered basalt grey fibreglass (a second set of five is installed upstairs in the dressing room).

Next to the Grcic collection are the 2007 ‘Black Sun’ and ‘Mirror One’ mirrors, both in silicon carbide, by Martin Szekely. ‘Mirror One’ is cleverly placed behind an early 20th-century woman’s head in white marble on a pink marble base, allowing the ponytail on the back of the head to be viewed when passing.

An eclectic design collection

It’s this pairing of contemporary minimal design pieces with more decorative artworks that is so unique. In the drawing room, Maarten Van Severen’s 2006 long black Bakelite desk (also from Galerie Kreo), 2.7m of starkness, is paired with a set of 19th-century Louis XVI-style black lacquered wooden chairs. An 18th-century chandelier and a towering late 18th-century sculpture of two women holding an Athénienne stand, attributed to Nicolas-François-Daniel Lhuillier, sit next to a black ‘Quilt’ sofa by the Bouroullecs from Established & Sons.

Off of the drawing room is a study, where Ron Gilad’s ‘Dear Ingo’ chandelier from Moooi fills the high ceiling. Among the bookshelves is an art deco desk and chair from Louis Süe et André Mare circa 1920 (Lagerfeld amassed around 30 pieces from these French designers), another of the Bouroullecs’ ‘Quilt’ seats, and Marc Newson’s 2008 ‘Carbon’ ladder from Kreo. Newson was another of Lagerfeld’s personal favourites (Newson’s wife Charlotte Stockdale worked with the designer as a stylist for Fendi). Included in the sale is an Hourglass from Ikepod Watch Co and the 2008 ‘Atmos’ clock from Jaeger-LeCoultre, a gift from Newson.

Purpose-built in stainless steel with curved Perspex legs, the desk in the upstairs bedroom is a personal favourite of mine. Precisely laid with minimal accessories in stainless steel holding pencils, notebooks and multiple iPod Minis. 

The sale is not all decorative arts and design pieces; there are also items classified as memorabilia, including Aston Martin dumbbells, clothing from Dior Homme, Lagerfeld figurines from Tokidoki, Fendi iPhone cases, a Simpsons poster featuring a Lagerfeld cameo, and naturally, items used by Choupette, the designer’s Birman cat.

Lagerfeld probably wouldn’t have minded that his collection is being sold. He told me once that what he found interesting was to collect things, rather than to own them. It’s not the first time his possessions have gone under the hammer: in November 1975 Lagerfeld auctioned his art deco collection at Drout; in October 1991 his Memphis collection at Sotheby’s Monaco; in April 2000 it was furniture and works of art at Christie’s Monaco; in May 2000 his Old Master paintings at Christie’s New York; in December 2000 the contents of his Monaco home La Vigie at Christie’s Monaco; and in May 2003 20th-century decorative arts at Sotheby’s Paris.

This time around, there are 4,000 items that have been catalogued by Sotheby’s, a task that took the auction house more than three months. About 1,200 of these will go on sale at the December auctions.

INFORMATION
‘KARL’, Karl Lagerfeld’s Estate Auction in Monaco, 3, 4 and 5 December 2021; Paris, 14 and 15 December 2021; online auction, session I from 26 November – 6 December 2021, and session II from 6 – 16 December 2021
sothebys.com

If there was ever any doubt about the state of life in New York City, the current volume of new cultural happenings from platforms, institutions and galleries across all levels affirms that the city is indeed back and well. Fall has long been one of the busiest months in cultural terms in the Big Apple, and this year is (reassuringly) no different.

If you are pressed for time and spoilt for choice, refer to our top picks. Here are the best New York design exhibitions to see this month…

New York design exhibitions

‘Hierophany’ by Ini Archibong at Friedman Benda
7 Oct – 2 Nov 2021
515 West 26th Street, New York

Ini Archibong’s first solo gallery exhibition, ‘Hierophany’, is the culmination of a four-year long creative exploration between the designer and the gallery Friedman Benda, and touches on global cultures, philosophy, mythology, world religions and Archibong’s Nigerian ancestry. Comprised of four distinct bodies of work and encompassing both lighting and furniture, the show sees Archibong push the boundaries of what his chosen material – be it obsidian, hand-blown glass or marble – is able to achieve. 

friedmanbenda.com

‘Here at Colony’ at Colony
324 Canal Street, 2nd Floor, New York

After lying low for most of the pandemic, Colony is making up for lost time with a presentation of new furniture and design collections from Grain Design, the architecture firm Workshop APD, and wallpaper designs by Flat Vernacular. Grain’s eye-catching new cork collection is a particular highlight with a series of CNC-lathed tables and a bench that pay homage to the unique tactility and durability of cork. Monolithic and yet enticing in appearance, the pieces make the most of the standard block and cylinder forms that are part of the cork production process. 

colonydesign.nyc 

‘First Times’ at Galerie Philia
By appointment only
39 Lispenard Street, New York

The international art and design space Galerie Philia marks its arrival on American shores with a suitably elegant showcase of practitioners who have not previously shown with the gallery – many have not been exhibited in the United States before – together with a selection of its classic stable of established designers (Rick Owens is one). Entitled ‘First Times’ and staged within the gallery’s new Tribeca showroom, the immersive and livable installation of intercultural works also highlights Galerie Philia’s interior design prowess, which it hopes to develop under the moniker Philia Interiors with future projects. 

galerie-philia.com

‘Portraits’ by Mauro Mori at Les Ateliers Courbet
30 September – 4 November
134 10th Avenue, New York

The Italian artist Mauro Mori has unveiled a series of functional sculptures following a two-year collaboration with Les Ateliers Courbet’s Melanie Courbet. Presented as the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, Mori’s new works include several unique tables and daybeds, which he hand-carved from Albizia Rosea wood in his Seychelles studio, and three limited-edition limestone tables that he sculpted in his Milan studio. The collection is a result of Courbet’s Gallery Editions programme, which aims at supporting today’s master artisans by creating new bodies of work as well as initiating new collaborations with contemporary artists.

ateliercourbet.com 

‘2021 Norway x New York’ by Sight Unseen at Matter
7 – 20 October
405 Broome Street, New York

For the past three years, the digital design platform Sight Unseen has fostered cross cultural relations between Norway and the US by pairing Norwegian designers with independent New York brands and studios. After having to postpone its fourth edition last year, the overdue collection is now on view and features a whole new crop of collaborations, ranging from a lamp by Vilde Hagelund for West Elm, a table by Jenkins & Uhnger for Dims, and a three-dimensional rug by Pettersen & Hein for Edward Fields. 

mattermatters.com; sightunseen.com

‘Distant Symphony’ by Rooms at Emma Scully Gallery
14 October – 20 November
16 East 79th Street, New York

The Upper East Side gallery Emma Scully has staged the largest presentation in the United States of the Tbilisi-based design studio Rooms. Founded in 2007 by designers Nata Janberidze and Keti Toloraia, the Georgian studio continually draws from its homeland’s heritage, landscape and iconography for inspiration. ‘Distant Symphony’ brings together a selection of iconic works, including pieces that have never been exhibited outside of Georgia, such as ‘Iron Secret Cabinet’. Objects produced in collaboration with three Georgian artists – Salome Chigilashvili, Mariana Chkonia, Shotiko Aptsiauri – are also on display.

emmascullygallery.com

‘Jon Gray of Ghetto Gastro Selects’ at Cooper Hewitt 
On view until 13 February 2022
2 East 91 Street, New York

For the 19th installment of the Cooper Hewitt’s ‘Selects’ series, which sees the storied institution invite designers, artists, architects and public figures to examine and interpret the museum’s collection, the museum has invited Jon Gray, co-founder of the creative collective and cooking advocacy group Ghetto Gastro, to guest curate an exhibition. With over 215,000 objects to choose from, Gray’s exhibition transports visitors to the year 2077 in an effort to prompt a rethinking, repositioning and reclaiming of object stories and identities. This concept is supported by a fictional narrative by José Mejia, compelling artwork by Oasa DuVerney and a dynamic exhibition display by Snøhetta, whom Ghetto Gastro have collaborated with before. 

cooperhewitt.org

Returning for an unusual September event, Design Miami/Basel presents some of the best contemporary design, for an edition based on an exploration of ‘human nature’ through curated booths and large-scale installations at Messe Basel.

‘This year’s presentations really offer an insightful snapshot of the current design market,’ says Jennifer Roberts, CEO of Design Miami. For the first time, the fair will be shoppable online through new initiatives launched in the past year that expand Design Miami’s scope and reach. 

Design Miami/Basel 2021: highlights

Design Miami/Basel 2021 theme: Human Nature

Gallerists and designers responded to the 2021 edition’s theme of ‘Human Nature’, devised by curatorial director Aric Chen. It’s a theme, he explains, that explores ‘how we might rethink the relationship between humans, nature, and human nature. The question of sustainability and planetary survival is not simply technical, but also cognitive, cultural and philosophical. As it becomes increasingly clear that human-centric worldviews and approaches are no longer tenable, we want to explore how design offers possibilities for reimagining our relationship with non-human beings and intelligences in more viable ways.’

The theme’s impact is evident from the fair’s entrance, where installations include DRIFT’s ‘Shy Synchrony’, an arrangement of multi-sensory lighting pieces (the duo's ‘Shylights’) inspired by the phenomenon known as nyctinasty, the movement of some plants as they respond to the onset of darkness. 

Among projects responding to ‘Human Nature’ is also Mathieu Lehanneur’s ‘State Of The World’ display, a showcase of anodised aluminium sculptures representing population pyramids of different countries across the world. Using data, each sculpture represents the birthrate, life expectancy and history of over 140 countries. ‘In this very particular moment in our history, I wanted to be able to embody humanity in its entirety; to be able to crystallise the large and the complex through objects,’ says Lehanneur. 

The Elevator by Crosby Studios founder, Harry Nuriev

Crosby Studios founder Harry Nuriev presents a metallic furniture composition inspired by the aesthetic of a corrugated steel-clad elevator. Nuryev explains his fascination with the elevator, a symbol of passing through different realities, connecting spaces: ‘It’s a place where you get to be a kid again and press all the buttons, the destination unknown,’ he says. The space is fitted with silver modular furniture comprising a sofa, an armchair, and an ottoman.

Shaping Color by Germans Ermičs

An expert in West Coast minimalism, Laguna Beach-based Peter Blake makes its Design Miami/Curio platform debut, presenting its first contemporary design showcase, with a site-specific, immersive installation by Amsterdam-based Latvian designer Germans Ermičs. Titled ‘Shaping Color’, the collection features new interpretations of Ermičs’ colour-driven furniture designs in glass, in new chromatic compositions ranging from blue to yellow. The installation, says Blake, hopes to elicit ‘a phenomenological viewer experience. We hope viewers will take away a newfound appreciation for Ermičs’ focus on aesthetics and material, and their relationship with surrounding environments.’

Design by Nature by Front and Moroso

Italian furniture company Moroso presents its new research and experimentation branch. Dubbed More-So, the company’s division makes its debut at Design Miami/Basel with ‘Design by Nature’, a project by Front that was originally unveiled in Wallpaper’s December 2020 issue. It features a furniture collection (comprising seating, wooden tables and vases) inspired by nature, with faithful reproductions of three-dimensional forms such as rocks, and created using using 3D-scanning, milling and weaving. 

Americana: Early Mass Modern Objects for Industry

Chicago gallery Converso presents ‘Americana: Early Mass Modern Objects for Industry’, an impressive collection of early modern industrial objects gathered over three decades and featuring rare examples of mass consumption objects designed by the likes of Charles Eames, Alvar Aalto and Alexander Girard, as well as pieces by manufacturers such as Motorola and General Electric.

Carpenters Workshop Jewellery

Carpenters Workshop Gallery launches its jewellery division at Design Miam Basel 2021. Shown within a dedicated booth, specially designed by David/Nicolas, the launch includes limited edition, sculptural pieces by multidisciplinary artists including Caroline Van Hoek, Michèle Lamy and Loree Rodkin's Hunrod, and Kayo Saito among others. 

INFORMATION 

Design Miami/Basel 2021 runs between 21 – 26 September 2021
The next edition of Design Miami will be 1 – 5 December 2021

shop.designmiami.com

Galerie Kreo unveils ‘Seven Stories About Mirrors’, a project by Sofia Lagerkvist and Anna Lindgren of Front featuring seven new mirrored objects exploring the history of mirrors, on view until 24 July 2021. 

For the past three years, the Swedish designers have been asking themselves, ‘What’s in a mirror?’, and this collection is the result of wide research. ‘From the first stone mirror made 8,000 years ago, the history of mirrors has been laced with magic and poetry, luxury and vanity, myth and faith, medieval industrial espionage and modern psychology, craft and technological advances, culture and self-consciousness,’ say the designers. ‘Each of our seven stories about mirrors draws from a key step in the development of mirrors, and their unique craftsmanship.’

The history of mirrors: from stone to metal

‘Through researching the history of the mirror, we wanted to understand how an object can transform its function, materiality, value and status over time,’ say the designers. The pair started by analysing reflection, mirror design and manufacturing through history, and created seven mirrored objects that respond to these moments in time. Working from a cultural, symbolic, as well as physical perspective, Lagerkvist and Lindgren dissected several centuries of design history and techniques to create their new pieces. 

From water reflections to 13th-century blown glass, from 8,000-year-old obsidian to foundries making bronze mirrors, each piece, they explain ‘is the result of an astute typological and historical analysis of the mirror-object in order to investigate how the value, significance, cultural meaning, and technical aspect of a specific object is constantly evolving with time’.

As well as traditional vertical mirrors, the collection includes the ‘Water Reflection Side Table’, a design evoking the reflecting water surface used since prehistoric times for ceremonies or to mirror and study the sky, and two ‘Mirror Vases’, inspired respectively by ancient Roman glass mirrors and by 13th-century manufacturing techniques involving unrolling a flat sheet of glass to create a mirror.

Other mirrors in the collection include a thick, black obsidian piece that resembles a wall-mounted, oversized piece of jewellery, a bronze mirror inspired by the Chinese mirrors dating back to 2000 BC, and ‘The Secret Mirror’, referencing 15th-century Venetian plate glass techniques

‘“Seven Stories About Mirrors” is about how one can study the evolution of humanity through the prism of the mirror, and how a single object fractures into multiple narratives,’ reads Galerie Kreo’s introduction to the project. ‘From industrial espionage in 16th-century Venice to Chinese metal mirrors, from early craftsmanship prowess to technological achievements, from the metamorphosis of the materiality of an object to the relationship of each one of us to our own image.

Information

‘Seven Stories About Mirrors’ is on view at Galerie Kreo, Paris, until 24 July 2021

galeriekreo.com
frontdesign.se

Amsterdam-based, Latvian designer Germans Ermičs is best known for his imaginative interpretation of glass furniture. His ‘Ombre’ glass chair, simply featuring intersecting glass panels in graduated colours, was a tribute to Shiro Kuramata’s iconic ‘Glass Chair’ and it has been a Wallpaper* favourite since its launch in 2017. 

Ermičs now presents a new glass seat, this time a throne-like, sunset-inspired number. The sculptural chair, aptly named ‘Sunburst’, follows the same structural simplicity of its predecessor, with a new volume and a solar colour palette ranging from black that turns red and evolves all the way to yellow and clear glass. The simple geometry of Ermičs’ new design gives space to the chromatic explosion of the glass, resulting in a chair design that sits somewhere between minimalism and maximalism.

‘“Sunburst Tall Glass Chair” expresses a delicate balance between two clashing polarities: a perceived fragility and an imagined state of solidity,’ says Ermičs. ‘With its three vertical glass panes, caught in a sublime moment between stability and collapse, the high back and sides provide personal space and protection, although the sitting experience may be closer to that of a falling throne.’

A limited edition of eight, the new chair is presented by Parisian gallerist Maria Wettergren, as part of an exhibition of furniture designs by Ermičs as well as Russian born Danish designer Boris Berlin and Danish architect Daniel Berlin. 

Says Wettergren, ‘When inviting Boris Berlin to exhibit in my gallery, the designer responded by asking his son, architect Daniel Berlin (of Snøhetta) and Germans Ermičs (whom he effectively considers his adopted son), to create works with him, some collaboratively in pairs, others individually, in a twilight zone between art, design and architecture.’  

Titled ‘Modernism Crystallized’, the exhibition includes the ‘Sunburst’ chair, as well as a ‘Mirror Beam’ in the same colours and a black mirrored table, designed by Ermičs in collaboration with Boris Berlin. For this show, Ermičs also explored marble, a new material for the designer, who created a simple cylindrical stool with a chiselled surface, bringing a three dimensional texture to the stone’s colours. Furniture by Boris Berlin follows a similarly simple geometry, with stools and chairs (which he designed solo or in collaboration with his son) based on basic forms crafted out of wood. 

The three designers’ material-oriented approach, the gallery explains, is paired with new technologies and craftsmanship, resulting in a new ‘perception of form, light and space; urban aesthetics with a tendency towards geometric abstraction’. 

INFORMATION

‘Modernism Crystallized’ is on show until 11 September 2021 at Maria Wettergren Gallery, Paris
germansermics.com

ADDRESS

121 Rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris
France

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Unno, a new gallery dedicated to contemporary Latin American design, makes its digital debut ahead of a physical space opening in Milan later in 2021. The gallery was founded by architect and sculptor Laura Abe Vettoretti and interior designer Maria Dolores Uribe, two creatives operating between Latin America, the USA and Italy. The pair met in Mexico City: ‘we came together as Unno after meeting in the same point of view: that Latin American Design should be portrayed to the world as pure, deep, raw, mystic and elegant,’ they say.

The gallery aims at presenting a contemporary vision for Latin American design and celebrating its creators. The debuting collection includes works by Abe Vettoretti and Uribe, contributions by Mexican designers Cesar Nuñez and Bandido Studio, as well as pieces by Brooklyn designer Ian Felton inspired by Pre-Columbian animism. 

The founders stress that this is ‘a gallery by and for young designers,’ hoping to reframe the traditional idea of the region’s aesthetic and steer it towards a contemporary collectible design vision – what the pair calls ‘a cultural breaking point’ achieved through ‘connecting and recapturing our transcendental roots’.

‘The perception of Latin American Design is crafty, folk-inspired and colorful,’ state the duo. ‘At Unno we want to show that there is more to that, that there is a conceptual deepness behind what we create, and that Latin American design can be elevated to the highest standards in art and design.’

Debuting collections reference ancient Mexican architecture, the sun’s symbolism celebrated in pre-Colombian inscriptions, pre-Hispanic architecture, Mesoamerican culture and artistic movements from Colonial Mexico. Each piece was made by local craftsmen to celebrate shapes and materials such as jade, lava, cast bronze, onyx, obsidian, brass and black marble.

‘We want to portray the intellectual assets of our represented designers as a solid sample of contemporary collectible design, distant from mere craftsmanship,’ conclude the two founders. ‘And through this project, we learned how important it is to keep our ancestral techniques alive.’

INFORMATION

unnogallery.com

Carwan Gallery opens its doors in Athens, with a new gallery debuting in the city’s old port and an inaugural exhibition of works by Omer Arbel. The contemporary design gallery originally opened in Beirut in 2010, and the Greek move marks a new, important chapter in its history.

Launched by Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte and Quentin Moyse, since its inception Carwan Gallery has been championing the work of international designers from Carlo Massoud to Karen Chekerdjian, Rotor and Lindsey Adelman. Now the gallery adds the Vancouver and Berlin-based Arbel to its impressive roster, with a new exhibition opening at the Athens location, featuring copper sculptures that result from an in-depth research process.

113 by Omer Arbel

The multidisciplinary designer (and the mind behind lighting brand Bocci) has created 70 unique pieces for the launch exhibition, the result of his personal research work into the relationship between glass and copper. ‘For some years I have been interested in matching the coefficients of expansion of glass and copper, so that the two could be fused on a molecular level and manipulated,’ explains Arbel. ‘I’ve wanted to explore formal languages that might emerge when two materials, so different from each other, marry.’

Arbel’s process

The works are created by employing traditional glass-blowing techniques to create a vessel, then pouring a copper alloy in. The different chemicals clash during this process, and as the pieces cool the glass shape shatters off, leaving a metallic silhouette featuring an oxidised finish.

‘When hot, the glass and copper interact to make a form that neither would be capable of on its own, in a kind of performance staged by the glass blowers, with great skill, in a short amount of time. The object immediately begins to cool, and the two materials, because of their intrinsic nature, are completed to reject each other, break off and separate. I am interested in the form that remains, an artefact resulting from (or documenting) a performative act of unpredictable contingencies and circumstances,’ Arbel continues. 

Carwan Gallery in Athens

An exhibition of experimental pieces seems like a fitting debut for Carwan’s new location. ‘Athens is going through a total Renaissance,’ said Bellavance-Lecompte in an Instagram post announcing the new opening. He and Moyse have chosen to be based in the Piraeus (the city’s historic port), in a former 19th century commercial warehouse with high ceilings and original features such as a timber roof truss and multilayered brick walls.

‘In a way [this location is] the starting point from where Ancient Greek civilisation spread all over the Mediterranean,’ Bellavance-Lecompte continues. ‘Athens is a new inspiration, simple and pure in its aesthetics but also dense and complex in its history and urban context.’

INFORMATION

113 by Omer Arbel, on view until 7 November.

carwangallery.com

ADDRESS

Polidefkous 39

18 545 

Athens   

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

India’s design heritage might be most synonymous with colour, decoration and craft, but the country’s quieter, yet equally deep-rooted ties with modernist architecture are what the New Delhi-based design firm DeMuro Das hones in on with its latest furniture collection.

Named ‘Uncommon Threads’, DeMuro Das’ new collection comprises ten statuesque pieces, ranging from seating and side tables to center tables, a four-door cabinet and an embroidered folding screen that displays a bold curving pattern, inspired by Le Corbusier’s Capitol Complex buildings in Chandigarh. ‘The inspiration behind this collection and the techniques employed to realize it are hallmarks of our design and production process,’ says DeMuro Das co-founder Brian DeMuro, who leads the international design company together with Puru Das. ‘The Nila screen was created through a combination of contemporary precision laser cutting and traditional embroidery work, resulting in a uniquely timeless piece.’

The screen, one of the showpieces of the collection, has been produced in collaboration with Olivia Dar, a French accessory designer who formerly worked with Indophile Christian Lacroix, and features a deep blue tone that echoes the interior of the Neelam Cinema, another modernist structure in Chandigarh that was designed by architect Aditya Prakash, under the direction of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.

This recasting of Indian Modernism continues to shape the collection through the combination of restrained lines with a rich attention to detail. A minimalist sofa, with soft undulating lines is underscored by slender, textured bronze legs that have been cast to resemble petrified sand, while the stout Emil center table pairs its Brutalistic form with a highly textured surface, created from hand-laying silver and gold pyrite to form an overlapping pattern that emphasises each material’s natural patina.

The collection’s modernist aspects are counterweighted by examples of how DeMuro Das has used Indian craft traditions to create a contemporary appeal. The luxurious Nami cabinet pays tribute to sand-cast Dhokra sculptures, made by the nomadic communities of central India, and features decorative motifs made by using coils of string that have been cast into its solid bronze doors.

Poetic, hand wrought and brimming over with narrative, the collectible pieces exude a contemporary, reconfigured beauty that is still steeped in Indian tradition.

INFORMATION

demurodas.com

Design Miami/ launches a new retail platform and presents a new collection of works on paper created by international designers, artists and architects, to offer support in areas most hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Featuring works by the likes of Annabelle Selldorf, Marlene Huissoud, Formafantasma, Kiki & Joost and many more, the full proceedings will support GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, an initiative helping key workers worldwide. The collection was created in partnership with Anava Projects, set up by curators Anna Carnick and Wava Carpenter to support ‘design for good’, and will be available to purchase via the design fair’s new Shop platform.

‘From the beginning, we wanted to create a platform that could support our community at large. As the pandemic unfolded, it was important for us to use our network and our platform for the greater good,' says the fair's Director of Global Exhibitions, Jillian Choi. Designers were asked to create works that described their experience during the pandemic. ‘We were heartened but not surprised, by the overwhelming response and desire to contribute,' continues Choi. Available to purchase will be over 100 works ranging from the abstract to the practical, including a sketch from David Adjaye's Smithsonian project, a photograph by Germans Ermičs, collages by Humberto Campana and Justin Morin amongst others. 

Launching today, Design Miami/ Shop is a new online marketplace dedicated to collectible design, offering over 800 pieces from 52 international galleries. Having cancelled its Basel date this year, the fair has been exploring ways to support its international roster of design galleries, and this new project creates an outlet for both commercial as well as creative and collaborative connections. ‘The feedback so far [...] has been incredibly positive with almost every gallery that exhibits in Design Miami/ Basel participating,' observes Design Miami/ CEO, Jen Roberts. ‘The quality and quantity of works presented gives an excellent indication of just how excited the gallerists and studios are. Our galleries have been incredible partners in this effort and have generously shared material along with their expertise to create a more robust site. They have all been extremely supportive of this initiative while understanding that it’s really an effort to support them short and long term.'

Pieces on sale will start at $100, and will include unique works such as a 6x6 Demountable House by Jean Prouvé (priced at US$1,500,000). Collectors will be able to browse the catalogue by product, era and gallery, as well as  specially curated areas selected by the fair's team and including collections on Contemporary Ceramics and Brazilian Modernism.

‘While we are looking ahead to the Miami fair in December, we wanted to find a way to support our galleries and partners in the interim,’ says Roberts. ‘The collectible design market has seen some upsides to the pandemic as people have had to spend the majority of their time in their homes. When I speak to the galleries, they all note that these new circumstances have meant that their clients are finally able to spend time in one place which is helpful for making decisions about pieces they had been considering. We believe that our new online platform will be a valuable addition to the Design Miami/ portfolio, and become a destination where visitors can browse and purchase the best in collectible design from the foremost experts in the field as they would at our fairs.’

INFORMATION

shop.designmiami.com

Perched atop a limestone promontory jutting out into the Tyrrhenian sea, Casa Malaparte on the island of Capri is regarded as one of the most spectacular houses in the world. Its enigmatic design was dreamt up in the 1930s by the Italian writer, film-maker, war correspondent and controversialist Curzio Malaparte, who built the house on a plot of land he bought in 1937, following his five-year internal exile at the hands of Mussolini.

Malaparte, who was an active participant in the avant-garde artistic and literary circles of his time, was known for facilitating between religious and political extremes and was said to refer to the house as ‘casa come me', meaning a house like me.

His design for Casa Malaparte, which blends classical and modernist influences, is dominated by a tapering exterior staircase that leads to a roof deck where a curving white windbreak arcs across the terrace.

To date, the easiest way of experiencing this architectural gem for most has been through Jean Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt, in which it was prominently featured. However a new exhibition at Gagosian's Mayfair gallery brings London residents one step closer to the real thing. Malaparte’s youngest descendant and current owner of the house, Tommaso Rositani Suckert, has created a transportive exhibition that sees the Davies Street Gallery adapted to resemble the Casa's main room – a spartan stone-floored living room with breathtaking sea views. 'The salone, where the original pieces are located, is the “heart” of Casa Malaparte, and the most intense space in the house,' explains Rositani Suckert. ‘The large windows on each side of the room create a light which continuously changes and adds movement and shadow throughout the day.'

In Mayfair, the sea views are captured in a spectacular image taken by Thomas Lannes which can be seen through the gallery's Davies Street windows. The image has the same dimensions as the window in the Casa's living room and is intended to recreate the sensation of being in the house.

Within this set, Rositani Suckert has recreated an edition of three of the Salone's most important furniture pieces – a bench, table, and console with thick, sensual walnut tops and wide cylindrical legs sculpted in Italian pine, Carrara white marble, and travertine.

‘Much of my youth was spent amongst the pieces, but it was not until I matured and was surrounded by friends and guests of the house, many of whom are great artists and architects, that I truly came to feel and understand their importance,' says Rositani Suckert.  ‘Our goal throughout the process has been to develop modern recreations of the pieces, while paying respects to the essence and spirit of Casa Malaparte.'

All originally designed by Malaparte and made by local craftsmen, the reproductions are also crafted in Italy using locally-sourced materials. Each piece has been produced in an edition of twelve, plus two artist’s proofs.

In addition, a series of Baroque-styled porcelain pieces formerly owned by Malaparte, who had a passion for Meissen ceramics and Baccarat glasses, will be on show. These include floral-studded mirrors, candelabras and freestanding sculptures that were collected by Malaparte on his travels. They were originally displayed in the 'favorita' bedroom but in 1963, Jean-Luc Godard moved them to the salone to use them as part of the scenography for his film.

‘It’s absolutely perfect,' enthuses Rositani Suckert ahead of the opening. ‘The frame of the window is made from the exact Italian walnut used in the construction of the pieces. As you enter the space, you can feel the dialogue between the pieces, and you experience the quality of the Italian manufacturing and how solid and powerful the pieces are. The Gagosian team did a beautiful job in creating a harmony between them, which brings the visitor into another world.'

INFORMATION

‘Casa Malaparte Furniture’ is on view until 19 September at Gagosian Mayfair.

gagosian.com

ADDRESS

17–19 Davies Street London W1K 3DE

 VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Since its conception in 2007, PAD London has evolved beyond how it set out as a space for ‘post-war and contemporary design and decorative arts’. Now, in Mayfair’s Berkeley Square, the showcase has a fruitful selection of collectible 20th century and midcentury design, glass and ceramics, plus a hefty jewellery offering that whets the appetite before Frieze frenzy kicks off in the capital.

Collectors and spectators are invited to experience eleven galleries from South Africa to South West London for the first time this 13th edition, adding to the roster of participation from 68 galleries in total from 14 countries.

Aside from beauty and its allure, the narratives behind works give the fair a unique draw. Turning a sad story around is Gareth Neal’s Block III that will launch with London-based Sarah Myerscough Gallery. In 2017, the original piece was stolen from Neal’s van and after two years of sourcing the ideal wood, he has now resurrected its form. Knotted gnarled lumber comes together through digital and hand craft for an elegent yet sculptural piece – this will join collections by Christopher Kurtz, Eleanor Lakelin and more at the stand.

Cape Town-based Southern Guild will be plotting new ground at PAD with 18 pieces from a new leather-clad seating pod by Porky Hefer to the results of ceramicist Andile Dyalvane’s 2019 artist residency at Leach Pottery In St Ives. Another newcomer, Luis Sendino and Jacobo Valenti, founders of Barcelona-based Side Gallery will bring organic 20th century works by Brazilian masters Joaquim Tenreiro and Sergio Rodrigues, and will set these in dialogue with contemporary compositions by Julie Richoz and Sabine Marcelis.

Elsewhere, an enchanting new Patagonian quartzite table will launch at Paris-based Galerie BSL’s stand, courtesy of Chinese-French duo Studio MVW.  The warm stone in the ‘Jinye’ series (translating to ‘Gold Leaf’ from Chinese) derives from a vulcanian region in Brazil and is technically composed with the brass layers to produce the structure of the table.

Winners of last year’s Best Stand at the PAD Prize, Carpenters Workshop Gallery will arrive with another show stopping performance, that will centre around a chandelier of Nacho Carbonell, giving hints to the blockbuster display currently on view in Venice, Dysfunctional.  

On view 30 September - 6 October, PAD London prides in ‘cultivating eclecticism, authenticity and connoisseurship with unparalleled passion and flair.’ Stay tuned for more discoveries this week.

INFORMATION

Pad London, 30 September - 6 October; pad-fairs.com

ADDRESS

Berkeley Square, W1

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Water taxi rides, bellinis and palazzo soirées were the ingredients for collectible design fair Nomad’s first ever Venice edition. And it was a delicious mix. The travelling design showcase definitely capitalised on the moment – Venice Film Festival had the city buzzing, and with the Biennale’s art offering still soaring, Nomad Venice was undoubtedly going to thrive.

But how do you make a showcase unique in this lagoon-wide offering of exhibitions? Hold it in a palazzo that has never before hosted an exhibition, was co-founders Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte and Giorgio Pace’s answer. ‘There is a special magic here,’ Pace muses while touring press at Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, a gothic palace from 1473. He shared remarkable stories of the historic location that was closed to the public until 2017, and restored as a romantically weathered spot in the Cannaregio quarter.

Twenty-five exhibitors were given pride of place in different rooms at the location – each somehow responding to the magic of renaissance buildings, bridges and waterways in Venice. Upon entering, resin works by Draga and Aurel were plotted where the canal reaches the stone entrance, and the murky waters reflected pastel tones in the Como-based duo’s works. In particular, a transparent screen was referencing the wooden tool Briccola, which is used to help sailors navigate the lagoon network.

Naturally, with the island of Murano nearby, and Venice Glass Week opening hot off the heels of Nomad, the material was a recurring emblem for galleries. A limited edition pair of chandelier and table by India Mahdavi were presented by WonderGlass, while David Gill Gallery capitalised on the local glassmakers too with a whimsical collection by Paris-based artist and designer Mattia Bonetti. In a corridor of the palace, the London-based gallery showcased classical techniques in a contemporary light with magnetic hues of green and yellow, bold Venetian architecture and interiors.

Glass history from South America was also given a shout out via Chamber NYC, a platform founded by Juan Garcia Mosqueda. A display of newly commissioned experimental works by the likes of Jumbo, Objects of Common Interest and Ries were crafted by the last remaining glass maker in Argentina.

With collectors, journalists, makers, and gallerists joining together, Nomad was a project of merging industries and discovery – ‘we look for a mix between the well known and the unexpected, for allure and culture, for the possibility of creating bonds between the local and the new as well as pairing professionals with enthusiasts,’ says Pace and Bellavance-Lecompte. ‘We welcome you to La Serenissima.’

INFORMATION

nomad-circle.com

A celebration of design at its most joyful, whimsical, thought provoking and chic, there is inspiration around every corner at Design Miami /Basel (11-16 June). For collectors of contemporary curios and midcentury marvels, in the halls of Messe Basel, there is some of the best that money can buy.

One thing is certain, so entertaining are Art Basel and its sister fair Design Miami /Basel that visitors are relatively immune from that familiar condition: trade show fatigue. This year on the design side feels particularly fresh with a stronger, more established contemporary showing, and some progressive programming.  

At its shared entrance with Art Basel Unlimited, visitors are delightfully transported via the Riviera Rendezvous from Stuart Parr Collection: a series of classic luxury and sports cars from the 1950s–1970s with an emphasis on rattan-seated vintage beach cars. A sky blue Fiat 600 Multipla Marinella by Fissore, anyone? Now we just need to find a beach.

In a new spin on swivel chairs, Philippe Malouin’s unconventional office furniture for Salon 94 Design is a highlight. Inspired by an in-depth study on office furniture, and fabricated using a variety of industrial materials and techniques, the colourful corporate suite includes an executive desk made of nylon, a welded and polyurethane coated steel pen [ot and a steel mesh rug.

New York-based lighting designer Lindsey Adelman exhibits a poetic new body of work as part of the fair’s experimental Curio programme. Entitled Paradise City, the sculptural installation – a fabulous tangle of blown glass and metal suspended above water – sees the light source embedded directly in the surface of the glass and making it virtually invisible.

Elsewhere Mathieu Lehanneur’s Inverted Gravity showcase also pushed the boundaries of blown glass – in his case, by balancing monolithic marble blocks atop a series of fragile bubbles. The compelling new collection of furniture newly tests the huge resistance of this ancient material, while also suspending belief.

At the fifth edition of the Swarovski Designers of the Future Award that were annouced during Salone del Mobile, three impressive commissions in crystal – all inspired by water in some way – were on view from Shanghai-born installation artist Juju Wang, Dutch design duo Studio Klarenbeek and Dros, and London-based lighting designer Raffe Burrell.

Brazilian gallery Mercado Moderno dazzles with silver backdrop for its booth. Hosting the very special midcentury furniture of Abraham Palatnik, one of the pioneers of international kinetic art, these are shown for the first time outside of Brazil. The Future Perfect gallery, now well established with outposts in LA, New York and San Francisco, turned heads with its supersized ceramic furniture by Floris Wubben, and beautiful balancing animal lamps by Kristin Victoria Barron.

First time exhibitor Erik Thomsen Gallery’s show of Japanese bamboo ikebana baskets from the 1920s and 1930s was much applauded yet sublimely serene. Magnetic in their craftsmanship and saturated with stories, the vessels provide a perfect foil and discipline to the mad and magical innovation elsewhere in the Messe halls. 

INFORMATION

Design Miami/ Basel is on view until 16 June. For more information, visit the website

ADDRESS

Hall 1 Süd
Messe Basel
Switzerland

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Even within the confines of its largest art fair, Milan can’t let go of its devotion to design. Miart was a three-day long art fair (13-15 April) that whet the city’s appetite for champagne toasts and rapid-fire vernissages before Salone del Mobile’s big guns rolled into town in the following days. Though the vast majority of booths focus on fine art, a small, smartly chosen selection of design galleries made a fine showing in the ‘Object’ section, which was curated by London-based journalist Hugo Macdonald.

The Object section was devoted to galleries active in the promotion of experimental design, decorative arts, limited editions and collectable design. It consisted of 12 galleries, an even mix of young and established, Milanese, Italian and European. ‘This year we have encouraged galleries to focus their shows on one or two or a small handful of exhibitors, to give space to properly tell stories,’ Macdonald describes of Object 2019, his second time at the helm of the section. ‘I think it makes for a confident narrative. You understand why works are important and can appreciate their value beyond their aesthetic quality or status symbol.’

The approach indeed proved fruitful. Highlights included ceramics gallery Officine Saffi’s solo exhibition of the work of Milanese designer Elisa Ossino. On display was a series of monolithic objects made by hand from clay and sand and coloured a dusty shade of rose pink, a mix of the sort of monumental forms and careful scenography Ossino has become known for in recent years.

Northern Italian furniture producer Eredi Marelli showed off its Paolo Buffa archive in the form of the mid-century Italian designer’s original walnut and velvet seating, exhibited alongside his hand-drawn technical sheets and rare books dedicated to his work. While Modena-based gallery Antonio Verolino brought with them a solo show on Cesare Leonardi, described by Macdonald as, ‘a timely reappraisal of a fascinating body of work by a gifted and multi-dextrous designer.’

Not all galleries took such singular routes. Milan’s Luisa delle Piane showed a fresh assortment of midcentury and contemporary pieces, mixing furniture by Franco Albini and Franca Helg with embroidered lighting by Instituto Campana and an installation of crudely rendered clay masks by artist Giovanni De Francesco.

Another local, Dimoregallery, brought a melange of work from the 1960s through to the 1980s on a stripped back set of carpeted white risers, a toned down departure from their usual theatrical setups. Finally, Copenhagen’s Galleri Feldt took a slightly different approach, creating a ‘conversation between important Danish design icons and exquisite craft studies from their ongoing collaboration with Vitamin Creative Space in China,’ says Macdonald.

‘My aim has been to focus on galleries that are actively engaged in bringing the cultural context to life around the designs they show and sell,’ Macdonald explains of his curatorial mission for this year’s selection. ‘Collectible design is about more than investment. The stories around the people and pieces are vital for understanding their value.’

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Miart website

Organic forms, pop geometry and plenty of bling set the mood for this year’s Collectible design fair in Brussels. Established in autumn 2017 by art and design market veterans Clélie Debehault and Liv Vaisberg, Collectible is a conscious step away from the reductive feel of most design fairs. Favouring tomorrow’s tastemakers over yesterday’s greatest hits, Collectible is dedicated exclusively to 21st-century collectible design, and the increasing overlap of art, design, and architecture that we are currently witnessing.

This vision expands in Collectible’s second edition, which runs 14 – 17 March 2019. Art galleries and cultural institutions join forces with over 90 designers filling the sumptuous digs of the Vanderborght building, a former 1930s furniture store located in the heart of Brussels.

Among the design gallery heavyweights like Maniera and Valerie Traan, this year’s run includes young blood. Functional Art Gallery, Berlin’s first space for contemporary collectible design, will exhibit the armchairs by OrtaMiklos, while The Impermanent Collection will debut new works by artist duo Ker-Xavier.

Individual designer and design studio highlights include the modern architectural creations of Emily Forgot (represented by SKAL) and the otherworldly surfaces of Studio Furthermore’s ceramic foam forms.

There will also be two new sections of the fair this year. One of these is dedicated to art galleries exploring the porous boundaries between art and design, including Almine Rech Gallery, exhibiting the ultra-textured ceramics of Johan Creten and the dreamy tableaux of painter Jean-Baptiste Bernadet. Meanwhile, the other new section will show work by recent graduates of the Royal College of Art and the Design Academy Eindhoven, among other European design schools.

A trio of Belgian institutions, Design Museum Gent, the Brussels Design Museum and CID du Grand-Hornu, will come together to serve up a slice of history amid all the new ideas, by exhibiting their latest acquisitions and donations that span from the 14th century to the present.

Unmissable in the special projects section is an immersive tube light landscape installation by New York- and Thessaloniki-based design studio Objects of Common Interest. For those seeking refuge from the sensory overload of this year’s fair, a specially curated bookstore by the Amsterdam-based art specialist San Serriffe offers an alternative environment.

With site-specific scenography by the Rotterdam-based architects Studio Verter, Collectible will no doubt offer the perfect setting for the collision of disciplines and mould-breaking approach that this category of design defines, offering an inviting environment in which to peruse and purchase.

INFORMATION

Collectible continues until 17 March. For more information, visit the website

ADDRESS

Rue de l’Ecuyer
1000 Brussels
Belgium

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Design Miami/ Basel returned to the Herzog & de Meuron-designed fairgrounds for its 13th edition, presenting its traditional mix of new creative projects, iconic designs from the past and conceptual interpretations of the genre. With 43 international galleries presenting work from names of modern and contemporary design, as well as ten special Curio presentations and more large-scale installations, this edition once again offered a magnificent celebration of culture and commerce. Here are our highlights.

(Con)temporary Home by ETEL

This year’s Collectors Lounge is created by Brazilian brand ETEL and designed by Italian architecture firm Superluna. The space is designed to feel like a domestic environment, encased in a steel frame which gently separates the lounge area from the bustling fair. Inside, contemporary and historical Brazilian design pieces are arranged in conversation with photographs by Ruy Teixeira, which complete the space. Among the iconic furniture offering guests a place to relax and enjoy a glass of champagne is a notable selection of pieces by Jorge Zalszupin, a special tribute to the Brazilian master’s 96th birthday.

Watercolour Collection by Nendo, presented by Friedman Benda

New York gallery Friedman Benda presents a new body of work from the Tokyo-based Nendo, a collection created to impress the illusion of watercolour paintings on paper. The 18 pieces are made of folded sheets of metal finished with a technique that makes them appear like pieces of paper, then painted by hand to mimic a light blue watercolour effect. The pieces suggest traditional furniture shapes, reimaged by the design studio in slightly abstract compositions. The paint interacting with the forms creates a poetic illusory effect. www.friedmanbenda.com

Anne Holtrop for Maniera

Belgian gallery Maniera has been working closely with international architects, commissioning furniture that brings their signature aesthetic to a small scale. At Design Miami/ Basel, the gallery will present new work by Dutch architect Anne Holtrop, including furniture, lighting and accessories that form micro-architectures based on the Holtrop’s shape and material sensibility. www.maniera.be

Design at Large, curated by François Halard

For 2018, Design Miami/ Basel’s annual Design at Large initiative was entrusted to photographer François Halard, who is exploring the lasting impact of good design on our lives and on the world around us with a series of nine diverse projects from the 20th and 21st century. The display includes iconic elements of Jean Prouvè’s architecture (pictured), Gaetano Pesce’s interiors for the Dujardin children’s store in Knokke-Le-Zoute on the Belgian coastline and a micro-architecture by RDAI, amongst others. ‘I am looking at how the past has influenced the now and how the now may influence the tomorrow, it is all linked,’ says Halard. ‘Ideas are the bedrock of art and design; will and craft makes them physical, and time is the mediator. In some of these projects we can see concepts that have defined the last 50 years of art and design as well as in other ways we may see the seeds of the cities of tomorrow, and yet only time will tell.’ www.designmiami.com/design-at-large

‘A New Layer Taiwan’, presented by Spazio Nobile Gallery

An initiative by the National Taiwanese Craft Research and Development Institute, in collaboration with Belgian gallery Spazio Nobile, ‘A New Layer Taiwan’ is an ongoing project fostering creative relations between Taiwanese craftsmen and international designers. Curator Lise Coirier enlisted seven designers and invited them to Taiwan to collaborate with local craftsmen and workshops. The results include ceramic pieces by Anton Alvarez and BCXSY, bamboo furniture by Sebastian Herkner (pictured) and Jin Kuramoto, and lacquer objects by Julie Richoz and a lacquered clay table Wonmin Park. www.spazionobile.com

Blue and White, by Olivier van Herpt, for VIVID

Eindhoven graduate Olivier Van Herpt developed a unique ceramic 3D printing technique that created a new distinctive aesthetic for the material. The latest in his ongoing series of experiments is a set inspired by the Delft tradition of blue porcelain, initially started as a commission by the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag to complete the pedestal of a 17th-century tulip pyramid. The blue pattern, explains Van Herpt, is the translation of human interaction with the machine. Cobalt pigment is applied by hand on the clay before it’s inserted in the extruder; the pattern is then reconstructed by the 3D printer, resulting in a radial gradient that, as all of the designer’s pieces, celebrates cooperation between man and machine. www.oliviervanherpt.com

Limited edition Feltri, by Gaetano Pesce, for Cassina, with vintage quilts selected by Raf Simons, for Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein makes its debut at Design Miami/ Basel with an installation celebrating Italian designer Gaetano Pesce’s work. The designer’s Feltri chair, designed in 1987 for Cassina, is presented in an environment inspired by an authentic barn, and reinterpreted by creative director Raf Simons using one-of-a-kind American heirloom quilts from the 19th and 20th centuries. The installation features 100 limited edition numbered chairs. www.calvinklein.com

'Origins: Design from the Ancient World', presented by Galerie Chenel and Oscar Humphries

After last year’s successful Curio installation, where he reproduced a Turin auditorium designed by Carlo Mollino, Oscar Humphries returns to Design Miami/ Basel with yet another Italian marvel. In collaboration with Paris’ Galerie Chenel, the Australian curator presents the first ever display of Roman design seen at a design fair. The collection focuses on Greco-Roman artefacts, design and architectural elements from 200 BC to approximately 200 AD, including columns, capitals, urns, and fragmentary sections from interiors and furniture. The magnificent display is set to gain a deeper meaning amidst the modern and contemporary design booths, showing how the impact of Roman styles can be found in many genres, from Art Deco to Memphis shapes. The project, its curators explain, ‘was conceived to bring this material to a new audience and to give it a new context that demonstrates the fundamental synergy of great design from any period, as well as its profound differences.’ www.galeriechenel.com.

INFORMATION

Design Miami/ Basel runs 12-17 June. For more information, visit the Design Miami website

Brussels is home to a new design fair, Collectible – a show dedicated to 21st-century contemporary design. Under the curatorial helm of Maria Cristina Didero, Pascale Mussard, Jan Boelen and Wallpaper* brand and content director Tony Chambers, collectible wares will be presented across six floors of the light-filled Vanderborght building. Exhibitors include Brussels gallery Victor Hunt and ToolsGalerie Paris, designers Os ∆ Oos and Xavier Lust, and special projects from the likes of Van den Weghe and ABC Klubhuis, here’s our highlights to look out for…

Maniera Gallery

Last year, Paris gallery A1043 exhibited the furniture of Rei Kawakubo, the elusive visionary behind Comme des Garçons. At Collectible, Maniera gallery are inviting A1043 to present the conceptual pieces again, but this time within the architecture of Vanderborght, giving the futuristic furniture a whole new narrative.

Supergufram

The radical Italian design company Gufram will be displaying the collections of its spin-off brand Supergufram that launched last year. The limited-edition and often humorously designed pieces by Studio Job explore the borders between art and design while showing experimentation with materials like polyurethane.

KUF Studios

Founded by Kia Utzon-Frank, the multidisciplinary studio spans architectural cakes (KUFcakes) to dynamic shelving systems (KUFtwist). For Collectible, the Danish designer will be presenting brutalist flødeboller (classic Danish sweet treats) displayed atop new iterations of the KUFtwist shelving that will be made with cord instead of ribbon.

Os ∆ Oos

The Dutch design duo are bringing a set of their newest pieces to Collectible. Included is geometric lighting collection ‘Matrix’ (pictured) that is imbued with the studio’s material experimentation, and their play with form and function

Victor Hunt Gallery

The Belgian gallery will focus on the works of Maarten De Ceulaer, creating a contemporary space with many of the designer’s modular projects including the ‘Transformation’ series for Fendi and Design Miami (2012) and ‘Suitcases’ project that nods to the De Ceulaer’s passion for travel in a whimsical installation of leather pieces (pictured)

INFORMATION

Collectible is on view from 7-11 March. For more information, visit the website

ADDRESS

Vanderborght
Rue de l'Ecuyer
1000 Bruxelles
Belgium

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